From the Sector

More than 4 400 organisations, companies and individuals submitted comments and information on the proposal to restrict per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the European Economic Area.

At the end of the consultation on 25 September, ECHA had received more than 5 600 comments from more than 4 400 organisations, companies and individuals.

The comments will be checked by ECHA's scientific committees for Risk Assessment (RAC) and Socio-Economic Analysis (SEAC), and those providing relevant evidence-based information will be considered in the opinion making process.

The five countries who prepared the initial proposal will also review the consultation input and may update their initial proposal based on it.

Many comments submitted during the consultation are already published on ECHA’s website. Information indicated as confidential by the consultee is not made public. Comments received very close to the deadline are currently being processed and will be published shortly.

Next steps
RAC and SEAC are evaluating the proposed restriction and considering the relevant information received through the consultation. The committees develop their independent, scientific opinions over a series of meetings, where draft opinions are discussed. Attention is given to all aspects and impacted sectors.

ECHA will deliver the final opinions to the European Commission in the shortest possible timeframe, while ensuring proper scrutiny by the scientific committees. Once the committees adopt their opinions, they will be communicated to the public.

The Commission, together with the EU Member States, will decide on the restriction.

Background
The restriction proposal was prepared by authorities in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. It was submitted to ECHA on 13 January 2023. It aims to reduce PFAS emissions into the environment and make products and processes safer for people. The six-month consultation ran from 22 March to 25 September 2023.

Further information
•    Consultation comments
•    Restriction on the manufacture, placing on the market and use of PFAS
•    Topical page on PFAS
•    REACH restriction process

Das interdisziplinär aufgestellte Forscherteam von der TU Dresden, bestehend aus Dr.-Ing. Dilbar Aibibu und Dipl.-Ing. Lukas Benecke vom Institut für Textilmaschinen und Textile Hochleistungswerkstofftechnik (ITM) der TU Dresden sowie Prof. Dr. med. Marcus Neudert und Dr.-Ing. Zhaoyu Chen von der Klinik und Poliklinik für Hals-, Nasen- und Ohrenheilkunde (HNO) der Medizinischen Fakultät der TU Dresden, wurde für die Entwicklung eines biomimetischen Trommelfellimplantats, die maßgeblich in dem IGF-Forschungsvorhaben 20533 BR umgesetzt worden ist, für den diesjährigen Otto von Guericke-Preis der AiF nominiert.

Prof. Chokri Cherif, Institutsdirektor des ITM freut sich mit seinem Team sehr über die kontinuierlichen interdisziplinären Forschungserfolge auf dem stetig wachsenden Forschungsfeld der faserbasierten Biomedizintechnik, die am ITM in enger Kooperation mit Medizinern und Anwendern stetig erzielt werden. „Bereits im letzten Jahr wurden wir mit der Entwicklung neuartiger textiler Herzklappenprothesen als eines der drei Finalistenteams des Otto von Guericke-Preises 2020 geehrt. Die Nominierung für diesen hochkarätigen Preis ist eine erneute Bestätigung für den Bedarf an unserer praxisorientierten Forschung und eine besondere Würdigung, aber gleichzeitig auch weiterer Ansporn.

Über 30 Millionen Menschen leiden jährlich an den Folgen eines defekten Trommelfells. Ohne fachmedizinische Behandlung kann dies zu dauerhaften Schäden und schwerem Hörverlust führen. Zur Rekonstruktion des Trommelfells, der sogenannten Myringoplastik, werden heute körpereigene Knorpelhaut, Faszie oder synthetische Materialien eingesetzt. Da deren Materialeigenschaften nicht denen des natürlichen Trommelfells entsprechen, ist eine vollständige Rehabilitation des Gehörs damit nicht möglich.

Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler vom ITM und HNO-Klinik der TU Dresden entwickelten im Rahmen des IGF-Vorhabens „Simulationsgestützte Entwicklung einer flexiblen Technologie zur Umsetzung biomimetischer, langzeitresorbierbarer funktionaler und stabiler Trommelfellimplantate MyringoSeal)“ ein biomimetisch aufgebautes künstliches Trommelfellimplantat, das die körpereigenen Schwingungseigenschaften exakt wiedergibt. Die neuartige Membran ermöglicht eine vollständige Wiederherstellung der Schwingungseigenschaften des Trommelfells. Die Herstellung solcher Implantate ist mithilfe der Elektrospinntechnologie aus den Biomaterialien Seidenfibroin und Polycaprolacton möglich.

The Industry of the Future Alliance (AIF) has awarded Lectra with their ‘Showcase for the Industry of the Future’ label for demonstrating the criteria exemplarity, innovation and commitment. This certification is given to companies who have concretely developed a ground-breaking project to organize their production by leveraging the potential of digital.

The AIF bestowed Lectra with this distinction for its competitiveness concerning cost, quality and delivery times, all obtained thanks to a lean approach and reflection around the design of its products. Further, Lectra received the certification for its competitiveness regarding value, achieved thanks to mastering customer use from which new associated services have flowed. Since 2013, Lectra has invested €86 million in R&D, representing 9.4% of its revenues. This Investment has enabled Lectra to undergo a metamorphosis—based on methodological advances and fundamental technologies—increasing recruitment and growing competitiveness in all of its markets and geographical sectors.

With ten years’ experience in the industrial internet of things for cutting and expertise in software Solutions to automate and optimize design and product development, Lectra is in an unrivalled position to Support customers as they enter the ‘industry of the future’ era.

Pressure from certain shareholders to relocate manufacturing to China in 2005, triggered Lectra’s industrial project. Following risk analyses—the cost of transport for the European market, the turnover in qualified labor, uncertainty over patent rights and quality—Lectra decided to keep manufacturing in France. This choice was conditional on: disruptive innovation; upgrading; increased value to customers; and a rise in productivity.

The project was accompanied by a well-structured lean approach and organizational changes, which enabled Lectra to achieve the desired level of excellence in terms of productivity and competitiveness.

Some of the changes that took place thanks to this project are as follows: Growth in industrial performance due to an improvement in working conditions, with teams involved in the lean approach; Production engineers involved in creating awareness around factory constraints for a new offer as early as the design process. This co-design product/process optimizes global costs; Emphasis on product, process and logistics’ modularity with the latest possible integration of options (delayed differentiation). This enables logistics’ constraints to be taken into account as early as the engineering phase. Product modularity allows, for example, machines to be put in containers when they might otherwise require special heavy-goods transport.

Lectra’s factory improved its productivity rate by 18 points in three years, and has since maintained it at 89%. Costs have already reduced by 25% and the quality and level of service has improved. In terms of positioning, Lectra has confirmed its leadership in the high-end segment. Lectra has enriched its offer with end-to-end services and innovative, connected products whose embedded intelligence offers Smart Services, notably for predictive maintenance.