On November, 13th, 2012, the China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has started collecting public comments for the “Catalogue of Encouraged Substitutes to Toxic and Hazardous Raw Materials (2012Draft)”.
Early this year, the MIIT has collected information from the provincial authorities to establish a national policy to substitute the existing hazardous substances. A wide range of materials, including heavy metals, POPs and PTS, the hyper toxics, corrosives, irritatives, radioactives (nuclear facilities and military facilities are exempt), which are listed in the “List of Dangerous Goods (GB 12268)”, the “list of hazardous chemicals”, the “list of highly toxic chemicals” and the “National hazardous Waste Inventory”, are classified as toxic and hazardous materials in the catalogue. Those materials are therefore within the scope of the movement and encouraged to be replaced.
The Catalogue is comprised of the inventory of toxic and hazardous materials and their alternatives in various industries such as pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, leather, electronics, polymers, painting, etc. there are three types of substitutes according to the existing technology:
The “inventing class”, referring to the non-toxic, non-hazardous or low-toxic, low-hazardous alternatives that requires an urgently invention;
The “applied class”, referring to the promising non-toxic, non-hazardous or low-toxic, low-hazardous alternatives that are available but yet to be commercialized;
The “established class”, referring to the mature alternatives that need greater distribution and utility in the future;
The final date for public comments is 27th, November.
