Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council pursuant to Article 16 of Regulation (EC) No 648/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on detergents, concerning the use of phosphorus in consumer automatic dishwasher detergents (Text with EEA relevance)

Regulation (EU) No 259/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March 2012 states that there is need for limitation of the use of phosphates in consumer laundry detergents and consumer dishwasher detergents. The regulation sets in its Annex VIa a limitation of 0.3 grams of the total phosphorus content in the standard dosage in consumer automatic dishwasher detergents (CADD) as from 1 January 2017. For laundry detergents, this annex outlines a limitation of maximum 0.5 grams of the total phosphorus content, which already applies as of June 2013.

The regulation states that by 31 December 2014, the Commission shall evaluate by way of a thorough assessment, in light of new information on the CADD markets in Member States and new scientific information, whether the restriction for CADD should be modified. To respond to this request, a study (hereinafter referred as the “CADD study”) has been carried out by the Commission.

This report presents the Commission's analysis of the impacts on the environment and health, on industry and on consumers of CADD with phosphorus levels above and below the limit value of 0.3 grams, taking into account matters such as the costs for producers, the availability of alternative substances to phosphates, the comparative cleaning efficiency of the detergents complying with this restriction and the impact on waste water treatment practices and efficiency.

• Primary Source

EUR-Lex: COM(2015)229: Follow the progress of this report through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2015:229:FIN

ESO: Background information: EP supports ban of phosphates in consumer detergents http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-ep-supports-ban-of-phosphates-in-consumer-detergents/

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