Conferences and symposiums Safe and Sustainable by Design: a prerequisite for achieving a circular economy

29-11-2021 1:00 pm - 5:15 pm Add to iCal
Online

Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) is based on the consideration and minimization of uncertainties and risks to human health and the environment from an early stage of the innovation process and throughout the lifecycle of the innovation product.

The concept of SSbD stems from the development of safe-by-design approaches within the nanosafety field (e.g. in projects such as NANoREG and ProSafe), and is a component of the Safe(r) Innovation Approach (SIA) for more sustainable nanomaterials and nano-enabled products, which was recently described in detail by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). In addition to SSbD, the SIA entails the idea of Regulatory Preparedness, which refers to public authorities being ready to face the inherent challenges of assessing the risks of nanomaterials and nanotechnology. The goal is to establish a systematic and comprehensive strategy that builds the basis for efficient development and reuse of safe materials and products in a circular economy. In parallel, there are ongoing efforts within the European Union member states to harmonize and implement SSbD (and SIA) on a comprehensive level1, including for chemicals and advanced materials, and from both a regulatory as well as an industrial/innovator perspective.

The goal of the workshop

In one of the recent SweNanoSafe reports, a set of proposals to overcome obstacles hindering efficient nanosafety were described, including a recommendation to establish a national strategy for nanotechnology whereby safety is integrated at an early stage of the innovation process. This workshop aims to orient Swedish authorities in the ongoing development and implementation of the SSbD concept to face regulatory challenges related to nano- (and advanced) materials with the purpose of advancing circular economy.

Organizers

SweNanoSafe/IMM - Penny Nymark, Bengt Fadeel, Rune Karlsson (Karolinska Institutet) and Gregory Moore (Swedish Chemicals Agency)

Target audience

Swedish authorities and other actors involved in sustainability, nanosafety, the European chemicals strategy, and circular economy (including academia and representatives of other European nanosafety initiatives/platforms).

Draft agenda

13.00 Welcome (Bengt Fadeel, SweNanoSafe/KI)

13.05 Introduction (Penny Nymark, SweNanoSafe/KI)

13.20 Safe Innovation Approach: Towards an agile system to meet policy ambitions (Lya Hernandez-Soeteman, RIVM)

13.45 A regulatory perspective on Safe and Sustainable-by-Design (SSbD) approaches for advanced materials (Andrea Haase, BfR)

14.10 Q&A

14.30 Break

14.35 Short perspectives on the real-world situation and regulatory aspects of SSbD/SIA (Ian Cotgreave, RISE, session moderator)

  • Testing and standardized methods for SSbD of nanomaterials (Mar Gonzalez, OECD) 20 min
  • Modelling of nano- and advanced materials in research (Alexander Lyubartsev, SU) 10 min
  • Ongoing European SSbD projects – towards high-throughput testing (Roland Grafström, KI) 10 min
  • Digitalized and reusable data for SSbD of nano- and advanced materials (Penny Nymark, KI) 10 min
  • Beyond nano: The role of SSbD in the European Partnership for Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (PARC) (TBD) 10 min
  • Q&A 20 min


15.55 Break

16.00 SSbD as a prerequisite for achieving circular economy (Xenia Trier, EEA)

16.25 Discussion

17.00 Final remarks/Future perspectives (Gregory Moore, KEMI)

17.15 End

Contact

Penny Nymark Research Specialist