EUU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Supplerende svar på spørgsmål 49: Spm. om, hvilke interessenter, virksomheder mv. ministeriet har været i dialog med i forbindelse med ønsket om at indføre et forbud imod anvendelsen af PFAS, til miljøministeren, kopi til udenrigsministeren

Europaudvalget 2022-23 (2. samling)
EUU Alm.del
Offentligt

POSITION PAPER

Brussels, 15 October 2021

CECE comments regarding the second

consultation on a restriction for PFAS

CECE, the Committee for European Construction Equipment, represents the interests of 1,200

construction equipment manufacturers through national trade associations in Europe. CECE

manufacturers generate € 40 billion in yearly revenue, export a sizeable part

of the production, employ

around 300.000 people overall.

CECE welcomes the opportunity to provide input to the second public consultation on a restriction for

PFAs organised by the competent authorities for REACH of the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark,

Sweden, and Norway. In December 2020, CECE submitted input to EXPONENT in charge of the

Norwegian authorities work on F-gases.

From the information collected in previous consultations, the five Authorities have defined an overview

of the different uses of PFAS grouped in various

summary reports,

to which we would like to raise the

following concerns and points of improvement:

1. General comments

None of the existing summary reports explicitly consider PFAS uses in the

construction machinery

industry.

However, a possible restriction would heavily impact our sector, and we are concerned by

many of the ad-hoc reports such as those on F-gases, electronics, metal plating, textiles and lubricants.

Components and fluids used in the construction machinery rely on PFAS

(e.g., high-performing

fluoropolymers and fluoroelastomers) to meet customer quality, safety, and durability requirements.

Those materials provide a combination of superior chemical and thermal resistance and low friction

properties (e.g. PTFE). These properties are required to deal with the harsh environments in which our

products are used and meet the design life (durability requirements) that our customers need for their

operations. Construction equipment is typically designed to have a long life span; some machines

operate multiple decades before they require replacement. The use of F-gases is also critical for our

sector in compression refrigeration systems, to cool down the operator cabin, this is an important

contribution to ergonomics.

EUU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Supplerende svar på spørgsmål 49: Spm. om, hvilke interessenter, virksomheder mv. ministeriet har været i dialog med i forbindelse med ønsket om at indføre et forbud imod anvendelsen af PFAS, til miljøministeren, kopi til udenrigsministeren

Regarding

alternatives

to PFAs, in many applications no equally performing options to fluoropolymers/

fluoroelastomers are available, our products would be at risk of failing prematurely, potentially resulting

in, e.g., higher maintenance frequency, increased downtime and reduced design life.

Like other downstream sectors, construction machinery manufacturers

‘do

not prescribe the use of

individual substances to their suppliers but rather stipulate performance requirements to meet’

and ‘it

could be assumed that fluorinated materials are used only where performance requirements leave no

other option’

. Apart from that, the automotive and mobile machinery industry often rely on the same

suppliers, providing identical materials and components. Developing alternative materials for non-

automotive (low volume) sectors would significantly increase the cost of such components.

Finally, the summary reports do not differentiate between consumer and professional use and do not

define ‘essential

use’.

Thereby, the scope of the restriction is still not clear, this does not facilitate the

task to provide adequate information for the restriction proposal for complex articles such as mobile

machinery.

2. Uses and applications in construction machinery

CECE member companies have a global and complex supply chain; therefore, at this stage, our

members rely on their suppliers to determine the extent to which PFAS chemicals are used in products,

potential exposure, possible alternatives and likely economic impact. Articles used in the construction

machinery utilizing PFAS are very diverse and it is challenging to identify their uses comprehensively.

Below is a non-exhaustive list of uses and applications identified for our sector:

The impact of the restriction on

F-Gas

used as heat-exchange media in

HVAC systems

is one of the

main concerns for our sector. Air conditioners in construction machinery use substances like R1234yf

and R134a in compression refrigeration systems to cool down the operator cabin to meet health and

safety requirements

(2)

, using approximatively between 0.5 to 1 kg refrigerant per machine. Currently,

the most common use is R-134a which has a GWP of 1430, our industry is transitioning to R-1234yf,

which has a dramatically reduced GWP of 4.

We want to highlight that today there are no viable alternatives to the use of R1234yf and R134a in our

sector. Firstly, any alternative would need to be identified, incorporated into robust systems, then these

systems proven to be sufficiently durable for our demanding applications. Our industry relies on the

availability of such components and systems from the automotive supply chain as the sector is not

sufficiently large to make it a viable alternative to develop its own systems for the vast number of

varying applications. Switching to an alternative requires full redesign of the air conditioning system

(e.g. volume adaptation) for each product family and associated changes in the manufacturing system.

Moreover, development and verification of a new air conditioning system needs to consider the strict

safety requirements for mobile machinery and their harsh environmental conditions. These new

systems may introduce new process conditions to the equipment such as higher pressure, flammable

gasses and requirements for gas detection that would be more demanding in terms of safety obligations.

Transport summary report – July 2021

EN474-1 states under clause 5.3.2.1 that the cabin shall “…protect the operator against foreseeable adverse

climatic conditions”. Clearly it could be considered that prevention of exposure of the operator to excessively high

temperatures by the provision of an a/c system is a reasonable safety measure.

This would take multiple years to be developed and implemented, including extensive field testing.

Therefore, a transition period is necessary, allowing the continued use of R1234yf and R134a.

We would also like to stress that alternative systems are very likely to have a higher volume requirement

(e.g., CO2-based systems, because of higher pressure and larger volume of refrigerant needed),

therefore retrofitting machinery already placed on the market would require significant modifications

to the machine which is not reasonably practical.

PFAs applications can be found in the

body-hull and fuselage

(chassis, frame, body and covers) of

the machine. PFAs containing mixtures are used as surface tension modifiers and mist suppressants in

some plating processes.

Fluoroelastomers are used in

sealing applications,

protecting from dust and aggressive chemicals

and preventing leakage. We can find examples of its use on O-rings, valves and gaskets, shafts or piston

seals, seals for electronic devices and seals for battery electrodes in Li-ion dry cell batteries.

Regarding

coating and finishing

of the machine and its components, fluoroelastomers are

extensively used. They can be found in the coating of cables in the Selective Catalytic Reduction system

for diesel engines; coating of diesel and gasoline particle filter hoses; turbocharger hoses and coolant

lines, engine coolant lines and oil cooler lines; UV-stable coatings; coating of insulation materials; glass

surface treatment for water and stain repellence (which improve visibility in bad weather conditions)

and high abrasion resistance in windshield wipers or brake pads.

In the

interiors

of the machine, fluoroelastomers are used for coated trim materials. They are used

in seats, carpets and roof linings fabrics.

PFAs are also necessary in the

combustion engine and exhaust and treatment systems

due to

extreme heat and pressure conditions. In these components, resistance against corrosive materials such

as fuels is also critical.

Lubricants

–

based on fluoroelastomers may also be used in construction machinery sector to reduce

friction in a wide range of applications and temperatures. Further investigation is needed.

Hydraulic fluids

are crucial for the functioning of construction machinery and they may contain

PFAS. Further investigation is needed.

PFAS are also part of many semiconductors and can be found on

computer-based systems

and data

transmission systems. Further investigation is needed.

10.

Electrification

is a growing trend in the construction machinery sector, and the use of battery-

powered machines is rapidly expanding in the European market and globally. Moreover, alternative

energy carriers such as hydrogen will also become more relevant in the path to decarbonization to

achieve the Green Deal targets. We believe that the PFAS restriction should consider those needs and

allow the development of green technologies. Fluoroelastomers are currently used in batteries and fuel

cells.