Today, 23 April, sees the publication of the Environmental Audit Committee’s (EAC) report on ‘Addressing the risks from Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), concluding the EAC’s inquiry on this issue. The evidence submitted by IEEP UK features prominently in the report, particularly relating to UK-EU divergence since Brexit, as well as the risks of the UK falling behind the EU in regulating these chemicals.

The EAC’s report calls for the Government to go further than its recent PFAS Plan and adopt an ‘essential-use approach’ to PFAS regulation, acting rapidly to stop their use in non-essential applications. It argues that this is best done through a broad, group-based restriction, rather than through the current ‘whack-a-mole’, one-by-one approach under UK REACH in its current form. To do this, the report recommends that not only should the Government generally draw on international best practice, but specifically that it should study the European Chemical Agency’s (ECHA) forthcoming assessment of the proposed PFAS group restriction in the EU within three months of its publication, which is set for later in 2026.

Defra’s oral evidence to the PFAS inquiry revealed that UK REACH will be amended to facilitate alignment with the EU. In this final report, the EAC underlines the need for rapid reform of UK REACH to enable quicker PFAS restrictions, setting a target date of March 2027 for these changes to be implemented. It contends that this reform should be completed alongside increased EU-UK co-operation through existing dialogue mechanisms, to avoid regulatory divergence between the two. 

Referencing IEEP UK’s evidence, the report sets out the dangers of such regulatory divergence between the UK and EU on PFAS, including the potential for surplus PFAS-containing products that cannot be sold on the EU market to be dumped on the UK market, increasing the exposure of UK consumers to these chemicals. It also highlights that any divergence would create further trade barriers between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and potentially place UK manufacturers at a competitive disadvantage.  

Ben Reynolds, Executive Director of IEEP UK commented: “We welcome the recommendations of the EAC’s report – particularly those concerning the use of European standards and UK-EU cooperation as a way to better protect people and planet. As the UK looks to move towards a closer relationship with the EU, chemicals should be a priority for the Reset talks this summer. The risk of the UK lagging behind EU bans and restrictions could mean we become a dumping ground for PFAS-containing products that are deemed unfit for the EU.”

“IEEP UK also welcomes the EAC’s recommendation to apply the polluter pays principle to address ongoing and historic PFAS contamination and believes an emissions levy and remediation fund deserve attention. While in the EU progress has been made towards polluters paying for the removal of micropollutants from wastewater through an Extended Producer Responsibility scheme for cosmetic and pharmaceutical manufacturers, this is not specific to PFAS and only targets a fraction of companies producing PFAS pollution. As such, the UK has the opportunity to lead in this area, and set a precedent for countries across Europe and the rest of the world in years to follow“

You can access the full EAC report by clicking here.

Photo by Hush Naidoo Jade Photography on Unsplash