Government holds firm on PFAS Plan position

(by Karma Loveday)

The Environmental Audit Committee was clearly disappointed in the Government’s response to its April report on Addressing the risks from Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS).

Publishing the response, the Committee’s headline was that Government had declined to make any new commitments beyond those set out in its February PFAS Plan, despite MPs’ call to allow only essential uses of PFAS and to rapidly restrict PFAS from non-essential consumer products such as food packaging, cookware and school uniforms. 

The Government argued that restricting PFAS to essential use “presents additional complexities” and that it will wait to see the results of EU REACH decisions and international experiences before taking any such action, albeit it wants industry to transition to safer alternatives.

The Government added that it wants UK protections to align more closely and to “reduce unnecessary friction” with the European Union. Ministers cited “constructive conversations” with the EU at meetings of environmental regulators, as well as the chemicals industry’s engagement with the EU, and said they are exploring opportunities for technical exchanges on PFAS.