KEEPING IT CLEAN

The report examines how the EU's legal framework for chemicals, products, and waste interacts within a circular economy. It argues that a critical failure to pass information about hazardous substances along the material life cycle makes using recovered materials more costly and riskier than using virgin ones. Through case studies on mattresses and LCD TVs, the document demonstrates that while waste-stream specific legislation (like the WEEE Directive) can facilitate safe recovery, the general framework is insufficient. The authors recommend limiting hazardous chemicals at the entry point, improving information systems for chemical composition, and ensuring that recovered materials are held to the same safety standards as virgin materials.

• The current EU legal framework fails to ensure that information regarding hazardous chemicals is effectively communicated throughout the material cycle and into subsequent life cycles.
• Economic operators face higher costs to comply with health and environmental protections when using recovered materials compared to virgin materials due to the lack of available chemical information.

APA

Bernard, A., & Buonsante, V. (2017). KEEPING IT CLEAN. ClientEarth. https://www.clientearth.org/media/neojfsdi/keeping-it-clean-how-to-protect-the-circular-economy-from-hazardous-substances-web-coll-en.pdf

Chicago

Bernard, Alice, and Vito Buonsante. KEEPING IT CLEAN. ClientEarth, 2017. https://www.clientearth.org/media/neojfsdi/keeping-it-clean-how-to-protect-the-circular-economy-from-hazardous-substances-web-coll-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bernard |first1=Alice |last2=Buonsante |first2=Vito |title=KEEPING IT CLEAN |publisher=ClientEarth |date=February 2017 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/neojfsdi/keeping-it-clean-how-to-protect-the-circular-economy-from-hazardous-substances-web-coll-en.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bernard2017keeping, author = {Bernard, Alice and Buonsante, Vito}, title = {{KEEPING IT CLEAN}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2017}, month = feb, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/neojfsdi/keeping-it-clean-how-to-protect-the-circular-economy-from-hazardous-substances-web-coll-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }