Research article Risk management of hazardous substances in a circular economy Charles Bodar * , Job Spijker, Johannes Lijzen, Susanne Waaijers-van der Loop, Richard Luit, Evelyn Heugens, Martien Janssen, Pim Wassenaar, Theo Traas National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands article info Article history: Received 18 October 2017 Received in revised form 9 January 2018 Accepted 2 February 2018 Keywords: Chemicals Recycling REACH Toxicity Sustainability abstract The ambitions for a circular economy are high and unambiguous, but day-to-day experience shows that the transition still has many difficulties to overcome. One of the current hurdles is the presence of hazardous substances in waste streams that enter or re-enter into the environment or the technosphere. The key question is: do we have the appropriate risk management tools to control any risks that might arise from the re-using and recycling of materials? We present some recent cases that illustrate current practice and complexity in the risk management of newly-formed circular economy chains. We also highlight how separate legal frameworks are still disconnected from each other in these cases, and how circular economy initiatives interlink with the European REACH regulation. Furthermore, we introduce a novel scheme describing how to decide whether a(n)(additional) risk assessment is necessary with re- gard to the re-use of materials containing hazardous substances. Finally, we present our initial views on new concepts for the fundamental integration of sustainability and safety aspects. These concepts should be the building blocks for the near future shifts in both policy frameworks and voluntary initiatives that support a sound circular economy transition. © 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd. 1. Introduction Building on the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs; UNEP, 2016), the circular economy concept has become a particular area of focus in many countries. Both biotic and abiotic waste streams are increasingly used in a variety of circular economy technologies. Biotic waste originates primarily from agricultural or forestry activities and may serve as a bio-based, renewable feed- stock for both producing bio-energy (e.g. biogas) and manufacturing bio-based products. Abiotic waste comprises a wide range of material streams such as plastics, metals, paper, con- struction materials, and wastewater. The re-use or recycling of these waste streams fits within the ambitions of many national and international sustainability ob- jectives focusing on the reduction of the use of fossil feedstocks and on resource efficiency (European Environment Agency, 2016). The Dutch House of Representatives recently stated that, in 2030, the use of primary raw materials (minerals, fossils and metals) has to be reduced by 50% (Dutch Parliamentary document, 2016). Partly, this should be achieved by increasing the current efficiency of resource use and by further optimising recycling, hence reducing waste and the use of primary raw materials. The other part should be reached by increasing the contribution of biomass as a renewable resource, and cascading and optimising the use of this resource. In addition to resource efficiency, a circular economy offers substantial opportu- nities for reducing CO 2 emissions (Paris Protocol; European Commission, 2015). Greater efficiency in raw material and mate- rial chains could save 17 megatonnes of CO 2 equivalents annually in the Netherlands, being nearly 10% of its annual production of CO 2 (Dutch Parliamentary document, 2016). The ambitions for a circular or biobased economy are high and unambiguous. Day-to-day experience, however, makes it very clear that the transition still has many difficulties to overcome. One of the current hurdles is the presence of hazardous substances in waste streams that enter or re-enter into the environment or the technosphere. Examples are stabilising agents in PVC (e.g. Pivnenko et al., 2016), plasticisers in food packaging materials (e.g. V apenka et al., 2016), but also chemicals that were unintentionally formed during processing, like furans, dioxins or polycyclic aromatic hy- drocarbons (e.g. Tue et al., 2013). An important category comprises the so-called ‘legacy substances’ which are prohibited or severely restricted by law nowadays, but may still be present in numerous materials. These hazardous chemicals may re-emerge in the end- * Corresponding author. E-mail address: charles.bodar@rivm.nl (C. Bodar). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Environmental Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jenvman https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.02.014 0301-4797/© 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Journal of Environmental Management 212 (2018) 108e114