The SSbD4SME tool is developed to assist SMEs in selecting safe and sustainable chemicals during the development phase of new products or when replacing harmful chemicals in existing products, and related manufacturing processes. The evaluation of chemicals by the SSbD4SME tool is performed following the guidelines of the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) Framework published by the JRC.

The SSbD4SME tool contains three different modules that will assess the following:

  • Hazard information of chemicals (Step 1 of the SSbD Framework);
  • Humans and Environmental exposure and risk assessment during the production and use phase (Steps 2 and 3);
  • Environmental impact assessment under the form of a life cycle assessment (LCA) (Step 4).
For each of these assessments, there is an Introduction-tab (in which background information is provided), an Input-tab (in which an SME will have to provide input) and an Output-tab (in which the output of the assessment is provided). All assessments can be performed independently and will be completed for both an existing chemical used in a product (reference chemical) and an alternative chemical, or existing lifecycle (reference lifecycle) and an alternative lifecycle. SSbD-scores will be provided in the Output-tab for each individual assessment, as well as an overview of all SSbD-scores giving the SME a handy overview to decide whether an alternative chemical is a better replacement for existing chemicals within a product, from both a safety and a sustainability point of view. Input data can be exported locally by an SME and imported at any moment, and all inputs can be exported to a PDF.

The current version (version 0.3.8 ) of the SSBD4SME tool is designed to assess human and environmental exposure and risk related to chemicals used in the textile industry and to perform an LCA of textile products. Hazard assessment can be performed for all REACH registered chemicals.The LCA can be carried out from ‘cradle to gate’ (impact of the manufactured textile product) or from ‘cradle to grave’ (impact of the manufactured textile product including its use phase and disposal), depending on the product development stage.

The SSbD4SME tool also contains a database with recommendation of the use of alternative chemicals. The current version of the tool includes a database of alternative flame retardants to flame retardants included in ECHA’s Classification and Labelling (C&L) Inventory.

The development of the SSbD4SME tool was funded by FOD Economie – “Belgium builds back circular” project (BE-C[C53]-I[I-515]- (ID BOSA). Project reference BBBC3 call – proposal SSbD4SME

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