ProScale gets award for contribution to safe and sustainable chemicals
ProScale, a tool used to assess products' chemical risks from a life cycle perspective, has received an award from Cefic, the European Chemical Industry Council. The award recognizes ProScale's contribution to the development of safe and sustainable chemicals.
ProScale is one of the tools used within Mistra SafeChem, for example in a study to assess the risks and human toxicity of two flame retardants. It is also one of the tools being further developed within the programme.
– We have worked to develop the tool to be compatible with life cycle assessment and linked to the legal requirements in the chemicals field. Around ten companies have tested the tool with favourable results, and it's great if more learn about what it offers, says Tomas Rydberg, an expert in life cycle assessment at IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute and work package leader in Mistra SafeChem.
Contributions to the green transition
With the Responsible Care Awards, industry association Cefic recognizes companies and organizations contributing to the green transition and a sustainable, resilient and competitive Europe.
In the announcement from Cefic, Marco Mensink, Director General of Cefic stated:
"I'm proud to see so many organizations stepping up, with initiatives and tools that not only promote the green and digital transitions but also secure skilled jobs and contribute to Europe's competitiveness."
Winner in the Time for Change category
ProScale, the winner in the Time for Change category, is designed for use in life cycle assessment (LCA), environmental product declarations (EPD) and product environmental footprints (PEF). It evaluates chemical risks by a scoring system and can aggregate information from individual chemicals to complete products.
ProScale can also be used in conjunction with the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) concept and information requirements set out in the REACH legislation.
”Chemical footprint” quantifies chemical risks
– The tool differs from conventional chemical risk assessment methods in that it combines three aspects: a life-cycle approach, risk- and exposure-based assessment of products, and the ability to aggregate from a chemical to a complete product, says Tomas Rydberg.
– For example, indicators from the ProScale methodology can be used to provide quantitative information on chemical risks in products and the production processes used. We call it “chemical footprint” because it quantifies chemical risks in a similar way to how the carbon footprint quantifies climate-impacting emissions.
ProScale is a methodology to measure the chemical burden of products and goods from a life cycle perspective. ProScale was initiated in 2016 by a consortium of seven partners: BASF, Covestro AG, Deutsche Bauchemie e.V., Royal DSM N.V., Solvay S.A., IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute and Kingspan, with project support from Uetliberg Partners. Since then, Clariant, Dow Chemicals and Merck KGaA have joined. Read more about Proscale.
External link, opens in new window.