The Biweekly Pulse: 7th – 18th April 2025
The Pulse was originally posted on 23rd April, 2025. Further regulatory developments may have occurred after publication. To keep up-to-date with the latest compliance news, sign up to our newsletter.
Check out what’s hot in our regulatory world with The Pulse! The Pulse is your biweekly source for global regulatory insights.
This week’s trending sources in C2P
- EU: Implementation of the Reporting Requirements of the REACH Restriction on Microplastics, Guidance Document, April 2025
- EU: Technical Standards on the European Green Bond Regulation, Consultation Paper, April 2025
- EU: Ecodesign for Sustainable Products and Energy Labelling Working Plan 2025-2030, Communication, April 2025
What is our Content Team talking about?
EU REACH – EU legislators to discuss the future of PFAS restrictions
by Dieudonné Ymedji, Senior Regulatory Compliance Specialist
On 24 April 2025, the European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) and the European Commission will discuss the future of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) policy. The meeting will review the PFAS restriction proposal by Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, which aims to ban over 10,000 PFAS substances in non-essential applications under the EU’s REACH regulation.
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has been evaluating this proposal and has received over 5,600 comments during the public consultation period. The final opinion from ECHA is expected in 2025 and will guide the decision-making process for both the Commission and Member States.
What are our Knowledge Partners talking about?
UK government sets direction for Circular Economy Transformation
by RINA
At a recent industry event, the Secretary of State for the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs outlined a transformative vision for embedding circular economy principles across the UK economy. With commitments to eradicating waste, decoupling economic growth from resource use, and strengthening UK supply chain resilience, the speech provided early insight into the Circular Economy Strategy for England, due to be published in Autumn 2025.
Key Announcements Impacting Compliance
1. Sector Roadmaps to Provide Regulatory Clarity
The strategy will include detailed regulatory roadmaps for chemicals & plastics, construction, textiles, transport, and agrifood. These roadmaps will align with sector-specific circular economy goals, and provide business the certainty and direction they need to invest in circular practices.
2. Material Tracking and Digital Product Passports
Case studies of construction projects using passports to digitally track materials and enable reuse were cited as examples of best practice. This approach is likely to inform future regulatory expectations across other product sectors.
3. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and Packaging
Packaging reforms under EPR will begin later this year. A producer-led organization will oversee implementation, with reforms intended to increase recyclability and reduce excess packaging.
4. Reforms to Household and Workplace Recycling
New national recycling standards for paper, card, plastic, glass, metals, and food waste will be introduced in 2026 to clarify what and how to recycle. The planned appointment this month of an organization to launch the UK’s first Deposit Management Scheme for drinks containers in 2027 was cited as an example of reform. These reforms aim to remove inconsistencies in bin collection and improve recycling.
5. Electrical and Disposable Vape Obligations
From June 2025, a ban on disposable plastic vapes will take effect. Further, producers and online marketplaces will be required to cover recycling costs for electrical goods, potentially increasing compliance obligations for those in electronics and e-commerce.
6. Food and Textile Waste Interventions
Over £15 million in funding has been earmarked to reduce farm food waste. The government is also building on the ‘Textiles 2030’ initiative to drive reuse and recycling in fashion.
Compliance Implications for Businesses
The move towards circularity represents a fundamental change in product policy and supply chain obligations:
- Design for circularity: Products may need to meet new durability, reparability, and recyclability criteria.
- Increased data requirements: Digital tracking and lifecycle transparency will become essential for compliance.
- Cost considerations: EPR fees and new waste management levies may affect pricing and margins.
- Supply chain risk: Businesses dependent on virgin materials will face increased scrutiny and pressure to adapt.
Next Steps
While the government has committed to industry consultation and long-term regulatory visibility, businesses are encouraged to prepare now by auditing current waste streams, product designs, and data collection systems.
The Circular Economy Taskforce is leading the consultation and development of the Circular Economy Strategy and stakeholders are encouraged to share views to shape the forthcoming roadmaps.
For product manufacturers, retailers, and recyclers, this strategy signals a decisive shift. Circular design and compliance are no longer optional, they’re central to business resilience and regulatory alignment.
What are our clients asking about?
“What is the scope and timeline for the application of the Chinese Sustainability Disclosure Standards for Business Enterprises – Basic Standards?”
Answered by Hannah Janknecht, Regulatory Compliance Specialist
At the moment, the use of the ‘Chinese Sustainability Disclosure Standards for Business Enterprises – Basic Standards’, published in December 2024, is not mandatory for companies, since the standards are currently in a trial phase. To this end, the Ministry explained in the official release of the standards that ‘Prior to the issuance of provisions on the scope of application and implementation requirements, enterprises may voluntarily implement these standards.’
So far, no further provisions on the scope and timeline have been released, and the finalized version of the standards does not give any information regarding a potential timeline. Some information on a potential timeline was however indicated in the draft of the standards and the explanatory statement released in May 2024. Here it says that the Ministry of Finance has the ‘vision of establishing a nationwide standard by 2030’ and ‘by 2027, China expects to have introduced basic corporate sustainability disclosure standards and climate-related disclosure standards.’ The scope of the standards is furthermore supposed to ‘gradually extend from listed companies to non-listed companies and from voluntary to mandatory disclosures.’.
So in short, the use of the standards is currently voluntary, but China aims to roll out mandatory implementation for both listed and non-listed companies until 2030 at the latest. Compliance & Risks monitors the situation closely and will inform customers as soon as more information on the timeline and scope becomes available.
In addition to the Basic trial standards, the Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing stock exchanges released ESG reporting requirements for major issuers in April 2024. These can be found in C2P under the following title: ‘China: Sustainability Reporting for Major Listed Companies, Guidelines, April 2024’. The guidelines are however only applicable to large issuers/ public companies, who are obliged to submit their first ESG report in 2026. I am currently not aware of any other mandatory reporting obligations for non-public companies.
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Edited by Emilia Assenza
Emilia Assenza is a Senior Compliance Specialist with over 5 years experience in the legal compliance sector. Learn more aboutEmilia
She keeps clients up to date on global regulatory developments, with a particular focus on consumer protection.
She graduated cum laude with a Master’s Degree in Law at University of Catania, Italy and holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Profession.
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