Background Paper available: “What are the concerns around plastics and why do we need to regulate them?”

April 20, 2026

Twenty years ago, exempting polymers from the registration requirement under REACH was a political compromise. As part of its 2020 Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability (CSS), the European Commission has also announced a comprehensive revision of the REACH Regulation. Among other things, the registration requirement is to be extended in future to certain polymers of concern (PoC). The criteria for classification as PoC are currently still under discussion.

At the Regulatory Developments @ Regulatory Summit Europe 2026 on April 20, 2026, in Brussels, Prof. Dr. Uwe Lahl gives a presentation entitled What are the concerns around plastics and why do we need to regulate them?

Given the topical nature of this issue and the upcoming discussions at EU level, we have produced a background paper for anyone interested, which can be downloaded free of charge here. kann.

• Lahl, U., & Zeschmar-Lahl, B. (2026). What are the concerns around plastics and why do we need to regulate them? Regulatory Developments @ Regulatory Summit Europe 2026, Brussels. Zenodo.
  https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19633696