SCIP, an English abbreviation meaning Substances of Concern In articles as such or in complex objects (Products), is a public database containing information on hazardous substances present in several articles and consumption products. This list compiles the substances of very high concern that are mentioned on the list of candidate substances. These substances are subject to the REACH procedure for authorisation.

The SCIP database was developed by the European Chemicals Agency and can be consulted by everyone since 24 September 2021. It should help consumers make informed choices when buying products and obtain proper information on how to use them and dispose of them safely. 
 
What are the aims of the SCIP database?

  • Better knowledge and traceability of hazardous chemical substances that are present in products throughout their lifecycle, including when they become 'waste';
  • Reduction of hazardous substances present in waste ;
  • Fostering the gradual replacement of hazardous substances by alternatives that are safer and more sustainable ;
  • Contribution to the establishment of a circular economy of those products while ensuring non-toxic material flows.
Origin and added value of the SCIP database

 
This initiative fits within the European Waste Framework Directive that entered into force in 2018.   The new European law is innovating today by:

  • extending the 'right to know', initially envisaged only for consumers, to all economic operators within the supply chain;
  • the '  obligation' to notify information on the presence of substances of concern to the ECHA for all the articles/products concerned in order to enter it into the SCIP database and make it available to everyone (from the producer to the waste manager, including article suppliers, importers, article assemblers and consumers), as set out in Article 33 of the REACH Regulation. Up to now, the information on the presence of a substance of concern in an article was given only on request of a consumer or an article supplier.

Since 5 January 2021, companies that are placing on the market articles containing such substances in a certain concentration must submit information on those articles to the ECHA.  This  obligation has been transposed into Belgian law (Royal Decree).

The database is public but the ECHA guarantees the protection of sensitive data.
 
For further information about the SCIP database

Please also watch the explanatory video on how to search data on hazardous substances in the SCIP database.