The Q Mark Celebrates World Standards Day on Thursday 14th October 2021
The day honours the efforts of the thousands of experts who develop voluntary standards within standards development organisations.
The aim of World Standards Day is to raise awareness among regulators, industry and consumers as to the importance of standardisation to the global economy.
This year the theme for World Standards Day is – Standards for Sustainable Development Goals.
We want a world that is better, fairer and more sustainable. A world that can be enjoyed today and protected for future generations. A shared vision for a better world.
How To Celebrate World Standards Day
The best way to Celebrate World Standards Day is just to take some time to contemplate all of the things in your life that are standardised, and how much easier it makes things. Standards dictate the sizes, shapes, composition, frequency, and all the other fiddly bits that make our world fit together. Imagine what our lives would be without standardisation!
The 2021 Global Handwashing Day theme is “Our Future is at Hand – Let’s Move Forward Together.”
Global Handwashing Day is an annual global advocacy day dedicated to advocating for handwashing with soap as an easy, effective, and affordable way to prevent diseases and save lives
Global Handwashing Day was founded by the Global Handwashing Partnership, and is an opportunity to design, test, and replicate creative ways to encourage people to wash their hands with soap at critical times. Global Handwashing Day is celebrated every year on October 15th.
EU Single Use Plastic Directive
Single-use plastics
The EU is tackling the 10 single-use plastic items most commonly found on Europe’s beaches, and is promoting sustainable alternatives.
Overview
Single-use plastic products (SUPs) are used once, or for a short period of time, before being thrown away. The impacts of this plastic waste on the environment and our health are global and can be drastic. Single-use plastic products are more likely to end up in our seas than reusable options. The 10 most commonly found single-use plastic items on European beaches, alongside fishing gear, represent 70% of all marine litter in the EU.
The EU aims to become a forerunner in the global fight against marine litter and plastic pollution. EU rules aims to reduce the volume and impact of certain plastic products on the environment.
Background
Through the EU’s Directive on single-use plastics, different measures are being applied to different products. These measures are proportionate and tailored to get the most effective results, and also take into account if more sustainable alternatives are available.
The 10 items being addressed by the Directive are
- Cotton bud sticks
- Cutlery, plates, straws and stirrers
- Balloons and sticks for balloons
- Food containers
- Cups for beverages
- Beverage containers
- Cigarette butts
- Plastic bags
- Packets and wrappers
- Wet wipes and sanitary items
Where sustainable alternatives are easily available and affordable, single-use plastic products will be banned from 3 July 2021. This ban will apply to cotton bud sticks, cutlery, plates, straws, stirrers, and sticks for balloons. It will also apply to cups, food and beverage containers made of expanded polystyrene, and on all products made of oxo-degradable plastic.
For other single-use plastic products, the EU is focusing on limiting their use through
- reducing consumption through awareness-raising measures
- introducing design requirements, such as a requirements to connect caps to bottles
- introducing labeling requirements, to inform consumers about the plastic content of products, disposal options that are to be avoided, and harm done to nature if the products are littered in the environment
- introducing waste management and clean-up obligations for producers, including Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes
Specific targets include
- a 77% separate collection target for plastic bottles by 2025 – increasing to 90% by 2029
- incorporating 25% of recycled plastic in PET beverage bottles from 2025, and 30% in all plastic beverage bottles from 2030
Objectives
EU rules on single-use plastic products aim to prevent and reduce the impact of certain plastic products on the environment, in particular the marine environment, and on human health.
They also aim to promote the transition to a circular economy with innovative and sustainable business models, products and materials, therefore also contributing to the efficient functioning of the internal market.
Law
- Directive on single-use plastics
- Summary of the Directive on single-use plastics
- Implementing regulation laying down rules on harmonised marking specifications on single-use plastic products listed in Part D of the Annex to the Directive and corrigenda to this implementing regulation
- Impact assessment part 1 – part 2 – part 3 and summary
Related law
Timeline
Key dates related to the Directive on single-use plastics
3 July 2021
Ban on certain single-use plastic products enters into force.
Q Mark Awards 2019 National Winners
EIQA proud ‘Guardians of The Q Mark’
Continuous Improvement & Best Practice
What our Clients say
Our double win was instrumental in the 10% increase our business has experienced in the past 12 months. The 3 most important things to our customers are Quality, Quality and Quality.
Despite difficult economic times, The Q Mark has allowed us to optimise our procedures and processes through the Q Mark standard to deliver continuous improvements across our business.
As we are providing homecare services in an unregulated market, we are committed to maintaining and constantly improving our services and the EIQA National Q Mark for Quality Management Systems Framework has really helped us as a company.