With the ChemUK trade show fast approaching, AZoM speaks with Jenny Butcher from Ramboll about the panel she is leading and how the company is supporting others in navigating new post-Brexit UK REACH regulations.
Could you please introduce yourself and your professional background?
My name is Jenny Butcher and I’m a senior consultant in the UK Health Sciences team at Ramboll. I have a Masters in Toxicology and have extensive experience working in the EU REACH (chemical) regulation sphere and, since Brexit, UK REACH.
Ramboll is a multi-disciplinary company working across a range of markets. Could you tell us more about the services Ramboll offers in these sectors?
Ramboll is a global architecture, engineering, and consultancy company. Ramboll’s experts create sustainable solutions across Buildings, Transport, Energy, Environment & Health, Water, Management Consulting, and Architecture & Landscape. Ramboll participates in approximately 40,000 projects each year, including some of the world’s largest and most complex infrastructure, buildings, and energy projects.
Ramboll helps clients around the world address some of the most important issues facing our global community, including the environmental and health implications of urbanization, climate change, and resource scarcity. We have earned a reputation for technical and scientific excellence, innovation, and client service. Our independent science-first approach ensures that our strategic advice is objective and defensible. Our integrated multidisciplinary services and solutions are tailored to our client’s specific needs and challenges.
We develop scientific evidence to support the safe use of chemicals in accordance with regulatory requirements around the world. Our global network of 130 offices in 29 countries allows us to connect with and investigate local markets and understand local regulatory systems. Our team advises on a broad range of matters relating to product use, safety, and compliance across Europe, America, Asia, and Africa. We are confident we have the global presence and capacity to adequately cover the expansive scope of the work.
What markets, in particular, does Ramboll target?
Ramboll partners with clients across markets such as Buildings, Transport, Energy, Environment & Health, Water, Management Consulting, and Architecture & Landscape to create sustainable societies where people and nature flourish, delivering enduring structures, resource-efficient solutions, and socially cohesive communities for today and tomorrow.
How integral is research and development (R&D) to the company’s activities?
Research and development play an important role in Ramboll’s activities in that our ability to develop and combine knowledge and technology and utilize it in new and different ways creates synergies and dynamics and better results for our clients.
What kind of relationship does Ramboll have with the chemical industry?
Ramboll evaluates products and their ingredients or components across the entire lifecycle, providing insights on safety (human health and the environment), sustainability, supply chain risk, and compliance with regulatory requirements around the world. We work with our clients within the chemical industry sector to ensure they can achieve compliance with chemical regulations globally.
At this year’s ChemUK trade show in May, you will be hosting a panel on understanding company responsibility in relation to UK REACH. What is UK REACH, and why can it be difficult for the chemical industry to navigate?
Under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, the EU REACH Regulation was brought into UK law on 1 January 2021 and is known as UK REACH. REACH stands for registration, evaluation, authorization, and restriction of chemicals. The UK REACH regulation applies to substances that are manufactured or imported into Great Britain. This includes substances on their own, substances in a mixture, and substances that are in articles (objects such as cars or furniture).
Prior to the UK leaving the EU, the UK chemical industry was regulated under EU REACH. Within UK REACH, some actors within the supply chain may find themselves with different obligations from what they were used to under EU REACH. For example, a UK-based company buying substances from the EU under EU REACH was classed as a downstream user, and its obligations were based mainly around supply chain communication. Whereas, under UK REACH, the UK-based company becomes an importer and therefore has different obligations around registering the substance.
There are many uncertainties on the practicalities of UK REACH, including how the registration model will look, which includes how data sharing within the registrations will be approached. Also, until very recently, it was unknown if the registration deadlines set by the regulators were going to be changed. The draft statutory instrument was laid before parliament on 20th April, whereby the deadlines have been extended to October 27th 2026, 2028, and 2030.
Image Credit: muph/Shutterstock.com
You have a decade of experience working with REACH regulations in Europe and the UK. How will you use your expertise to better inform listeners at your panel about UK REACH and how to navigate it?
Having worked within industry, policy, and now consultancy, I understand the challenges that come with adhering to legislation in different geographical jurisdictions, especially when there is uncertainty in the UK around chemical regulation. Given my experience in supporting clients through the ever-changing landscape of UK chemical regulation, I will be able to lead the panel discussion through the intricate and thought-provoking questions that will hopefully draw out solutions for topics that are being faced by companies.
Through the panel session, this extremely complex but interesting topic will be discussed and communicated in a simple manner for all listeners. The Q&A session will also allow for audience participation, so we urge listeners to come armed with questions for the panelists.
Who would benefit from attending this panel?
Those companies that deal with chemicals will be impacted by UK REACH, whether they import, manufacture, or buy from within the UK. The panel discussion will include topics that are relevant to the whole supply chain and not just those companies that will be registering under UK REACH. This panel discussion will be interesting for companies that manufacture personal care products, medical devices, and food contact materials, producers of waxes, resins, sealants, and adhesives, to name but a few.
Why do you think it is necessary for Ramboll to engage with the wider chemical industry at trade shows like ChemUK?
Ramboll engaging in trade shows such as ChemUK gives us opportunities to connect with companies wishing to bring chemicals and chemical products to the market. Given the breadth of expertise the Ramboll team holds, not just in the UK but globally, it means that we can be quick and nimble in providing solutions for chemical companies. Ramboll provides a unique capability in product safety and stewardship consultancy. We understand the use and impact of chemicals across the lifecycle and the need for careful evaluation and consultation through the supply and value chain when considering alternatives.
For more than 35 years, we have provided science-based advice on thousands of product safety matters. Our cross-sector experience and status at the leading edge of science, policy, and communication allow us to bring rapid focus and insight to the most complex environmental, health, and sustainability product-related issues.
About Jenny Butcher
Jenny Butcher has a been working within the chemical regulations sector for almost 10 years. With a wealth of experience in chemical registrations, supply chain communication and Only Representative services under both EU and UK REACH Jenny’s experience ranges across a variety of sectors including aerospace and chemical manufacturing. She has in the past worked for the Chemical Industries Association where she worked with member companies in understanding their issues with compliance activities. She developed a no deal scenario REACH navigator which supported companies in determining their obligations on how to maintain both UK and EU market access in the event of a no deal Brexit. Currently, Jenny provides strategic expertise to clients to ensure they achieve compliance with both EU and UK REACH. She also supports in compilation and submission of substance registration dossiers. She earned her MSc in Toxicology
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