How to find and analyse alternatives in the authorisation process

Under the main EU regulation for chemicals, REACH, the Commission can authorise companies to use substances of very high concern when they can show that the risk is adequately controlled or when there is no alternative and that the societal benefits of using the SVHC outweigh the risks.

In practice however, authorisations have been granted for substances for which risk cannot be adequately controlled, even though alternatives were available. This report explains the shortcomings of the evaluation of alternatives that caused this, and recommends solutions to fix the issues.