Production and consumption of hazardous chemicals

The chart shows that the production of hazardous chemicals reached 221 million tonnes in the EU, with consumption levels around 4% higher than production. The figure depicts a decrease (-4%) of production between 2011 and 2015, followed by an increase (8%) up to year 2020. Similar trends are reflected by hazardous chemicals’ consumption levels. These results illustrate the current challenges to reducing the use and substitution of hazardous substances in the market. It needs to be noted that these data inform only indirectly about the barriers to the reuse and recycling of products due to the existence of harmful chemicals. The data does not inform about how hazardous chemicals are included in products, where trends can differ for different products, and about whether they can be recycled (for instance solvents used for cleaning are hazardous but can be recycled).

The reuse and recycling of products that contain hazardous chemicals can lead to prolonged exposure and the related impacts to human health and the environment. For instance, the levels of chemicals in products such as food packaging can potentially increase and migrate from the product. There are also risks associated with the recycling process itself due to the potential release of dust and residual chemicals. Many hazardous chemicals are being phased out. Regulations are also limiting the reuse and recycling of products containing them and developing sustainable substitutes. Substituting hazardous chemicals with non-hazardous alternatives is therefore key for the boost of the circular economy. Eurostat provides data on the production and consumption of hazardous chemicals, which gives insights about this barrier to a circular economy.