Understanding the implications of chemical regulations, circular economy and corporate social responsibility for product stewardship

Chemical regulations exist to limit and control the amount of hazardous chemical substances being used by industry to mitigate potential risks. Increasing awareness of diminishing natural resources, increasing pollution, and reducing the amounts of harmful waste, has led towards pressure on industry to change from the traditional linear economic model (closed-loop manufacturing), towards the adoption of the Circular Economy (CE) activities. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) extends the relationship between industry and society, defining strategy and communications. The speed at which chemical regulations, CE and CSR adoption takes place will depend on: (1) the speed at which natural resources become more depleted; (2) increasing awareness of the effects of chemical substances by regulators and consumers; (3) increasing numbers of chemical substances being regulated as hazardous, and; (4) increasing consumer and societal pressures for change. Product Stewardship (PS) can be viewed as: (1) involving a wide range of functional areas (design, manufacture, purchasing, sales, support); (2) identifying health and safety, and environmental impacts of product(s); (3) ensuring adequate measures are in place to understand, control or limit impact(s) against a product throughout its lifecycle. The aim of this paper is to focus on using a literature review. The conclusions from this paper will attempt to outline a framework for PS to align with CE and CSR.

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