Since 1959, Mattel has produced over 1 billion barbies globally, let that figure sink in….

We’ve been slow on the uptake to realise the chaos plastic pollution has caused to the environment…whilst once being seen as a relief for the world’s natural resources, these days we recognise the negative impact plastic has made.  And I haven’t even mentioned microplastics yet…

Microplastics are essentially plastic fragments of no more than 5 millimetres long being produced intentionally or through the degradation of larger plastics, referred to as primary or secondary microplastics, respectively. Its these microplastics that are found everywhere in the air that we breathe, in our food and the water we drink…

Back in September, the European Commission adopted formal measures to restrict microplastics intentionally added to products under the EU chemical legislation REACH.  The kind of products in scope of the restriction include:

·                Multipurpose cosmetics such as exfoliation (microbeads) or where the intention is to obtain a specific texture, fragrance or colour.

·                Detergents, fabric softeners, glitter, fertilisers, plant protection products, toys, medicines and medical devices.

·                The granular infill material used on artificial sport surfaces (if you’ve ever played sport on them, it’s those black pellets that get everywhere!)– the largest source of intentional microplastics in the environment.

This is something I will be discussing with clients over the coming weeks and months but what might be happening in the UK in this space?

Well, we have our own REACH version now in the UK since 2021 and work is well underway to look at the risks associated with intentionally added microplastics from a human health perspective, environment perspective as well as undertaking a socio-economic assessment. All this will hopefully inform DEFRA’s future regulatory options…

For now, therefore, the UK are on catchup, but I predict it won’t be too long for those businesses trading within the boundaries of this fair isle to be needing to think hard about the implications of all this from both a business perspective and environmental impact perspective. If you want to understand what you should be doing now, DM me…