The European Parliament's environment, public health and food safety committee is expected next week to endorse a proposal that would strengthen EU rules on e-waste, European Voice reported. The vote next Tuesday would set a standard for the EU to recycle at least 85% of electrical and electronic equipment by 2016. The Parliament is expected to pass the measure as part of the continuing revision of the WEEE directive.
Members of the European Commission said that no major changes to REACH chemicals regulation should be expected after a review scheduled for next year, EurActiv reported. Janez Potonik, the environment commissioner, tamped down concern that the review "will change the rules of the game" and stressed that the commission would "only put forward a legislative revision if it were really needed and necessary."
Reviewing the 2010 REACH registration experience, officials from the commission and the European Chemicals Agency are urging companies to improve the accuracy of their dossiers for the 2013 chemicals registration deadline, according to Euractiv. The agency's director of evaluation stressed that companies "need to provide detailed reasoning and supporting data" and cutback on "vague submissions." The agency said too many registrations were submitted as "intermediates," with too little data to demonstrate that the chemicals qualify for the reduced reporting requirements and fees.
The 400,000 square-foot California Academy of the Sciences in San Francisco has become the the world's first "Double Platinum" LEED-certified museum, The Sacramento Bee reported. The museum also is the world's largest building to earn "Double-Platinum" certification.
Honda announced that it now leads all North American automakers with eleven LEED-certified facilities. The company said that its Powertrain Division in Anna, Ohio, and Honda Canada, Inc.'s new head office in Markham, Ontario, have been awarded LEED-certification.
A group of students and teachers in central California are organizing a protest campaign against the use of methyl iodide in the region's strawberry farms, New American Media reported. The California Federation of Teachers has passed a resolution citing the potential dangers of methyl iodide for children, and calling for divestment of retirement funds from the manufacturer, Arysta LifeScience. Years ago, the State Department of Pesticide Regulation approved the use of the fumigant at 96 ppb, overriding the findings of the agency’s own scientists. Methyl iodide is on the state's Proposition 65 list of carcinogens.
NSF International’s American National Standard for Personal Care Products Containing Organic Ingredients (NSF/ANSI 305) has been expanded to allow plant-based ingredients that are certified to EU organic regulations, the standards agency announced. To comply with the standard, companies many now use U.S. National Organic Program (NOP)-certified ingredients and EU-certified ingredients.
