On the 6-7th December 2023 the NIA attended the 4th stakeholder event held at the European Commission on Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD). The meeting is one of a series to update the status of the Safe and Sustainable by Design strategy Fr pursued by the European Commission and which is currently undergoing a 2-year consultation period, which will close in 2024. The European Commission will use the collected feedback to update the its SSbD Framework in 2025. The agenda included presentations by Member States on their own strategies (Austria, Sweden, Denmark), an update on the PARC project on their SSbD toolbox, highlights from Case Studies, such as the one presented by Vito (substitution from fossil fuel-based to bio-based), BOKU (advanced materials) and University of Burgos (based on applications). All case studies suggested pitfalls and problems and were open to suggestions from all participants of the workshop. The ASINA EU project presented a case study on step 4 (sustainability) and challenges regarding LCA. Industry was represented by BASF and their challenges to achieve SSbD following current strategies, which were recognised as extremely resource intensive and time consuming. Projects like SUNSHINE presented an approach based on a questionnaire to address early development stages. The IRISS project also presented their value chains and their challenges which they were attempting to overcome with a SSbD approach (presentations are available on request to NIA members).
The NIA will continue to follow the progress of the EU’s SSbD strategy and provide feedback to ensure that the end result meets the needs of the nano and advanced materials industrial sector.
Members can find the exclusive full report of the event in the members area of the website
