As the EU announces restrictions on the use of perfluorinated compounds, which are key raw materials for electronic products such as batteries and semiconductors, considerable impact is expected on the Korean industry.
To respond to this, the government plans to publish a trend report related to perfluorinated compounds and share it with Korean companies, while holding meetings and seminars one after another.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the International Environmental Regulation Business Support Center announced on the 11th that they had published a trend report containing the main contents of the ‘Proposal report on the use of PFAS (Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl substances)’ disclosed by the EU. The trend report can be downloaded from the website of the ‘International Environmental Regulation Business Support Center’.
Perfluorinated compounds are organic chemicals in which carbon and fluorine are combined. It is resistant to heat and has properties to prevent water or oil, so it is used in many fields throughout the industry. However, it is not easily decomposed, so it has high persistence and accumulation, is widely found in the human body and the environment, and is also harmful.
The Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway have fully used perfluorinated compounds over the past three years, saying that they exceed the high residual standard of the European Union’s Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical Substances (REACH). The restriction was proposed to the European Chemicals Agency.
The report presented two options for enforcing restrictions on use. It is an ophthalmic medicine that completely prohibits use without exception after giving a transition period of 18 months after implementation, and gives an 18-month transition period after implementation, but allows exceptional use for 5 or 12 years depending on the purpose and then completely bans it. The second alternative was suggested as an appropriate alternative given that there are no alternatives such as cardiac pacemakers and other implantable medical products, or there are many industrial machines that take a long time to develop.
To review these proposals, the European Chemicals Agency released two reports in February and March this year and started collecting opinions by the end of September. It plans to decide on an evaluation opinion next year, adopt the European Commission in 2025, and apply restrictions on use as early as 2026.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Perfluorinated compounds are widely used as raw materials or coating agents to satisfy performance such as safety and reliability, flame retardancy and durability when manufacturing automobiles, automobile batteries, and electronic parts. In particular, it is used as a refrigerant or cleaning agent in etching and chemical vapor deposition processes when making semiconductors. Because of this, it is expected that the impact on our industry will be very large.
The Ministry of Industry plans to hold company meetings and trend seminars one after another to prevent confusion in the industry. After holding an industry meeting in early June to understand the response status and difficulties of each industry, as a follow-up measure, it plans to hold a seminar on the theme of ‘European Union’s new regulation on perfluorochemicals’. While actively disseminating related regulatory trends to companies, the government plans to actively guide the Korean industry to submit stakeholder opinions to the EU.
(Sejong = News 1)
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.