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Legal affairs

European Union: New regulations on detergents and cleaning products

The European Parliament and the Member States of the European Union (EU) have reached an agreement on an amendment to the legislation on detergents and cleaning products, the so-called European Detergents Regulation. It stipulates that phosphate may in future no longer be used as an ingredient of detergents and dishwasher detergents for private households within the entire EU.

In Germany the manufacturers of household laundry detergents have been waiving phosphate on a voluntary basis since 1985. The IKW member companies hence anticipated legislation under their own responsibility more than 25 years ago. Throughout the EU only a very low amount of phosphorus will be permitted in household laundry detergents from 2013 onwards (0.5 gram per standard wash load) which means the end for phosphate as an ingredient in detergents in all Member States.

For dishwasher detergents a low phosphorus maximum value will be defined from 2017 onwards (0.3 gram per rinse cycle). This means that in the foreseeable future phosphate may no longer be used as an ingredient in dishwasher detergents. The manufacturers of dishwasher detergents must now formulate new products with phosphate substitutes which have at least the same good cleaning performance and the best possible price performance ratio. Moreover, the substitutes should be just as safe for human health as phosphate.

Phosphates are appreciated in agriculture as plant fertilizers whereas they are undesirable in surface waters because of that same property. The main discharge of phosphate in domestic waste waters originates from the natural excretions of people. So far the share of phosphate from dishwasher detergents in domestic waste waters is below 10% in Germany. Thanks to the high connection rate to three-stage waste water treatment plants approximately 90% of the phosphate are removed from domestic waste waters in Germany.

Although the new regulation will only make a minor contribution towards the quality of surface waters in Germany because detergents for private consumers have already been phosphate-free for 25 years and dishwasher detergents have only a low amount of phosphate discharge, the manufacturers welcome altogether the EU-wide new regulation since the so far very different regulations of the Member States on phosphate are harmonised and the internal market is coming closer in this field.

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