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The European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) is aware of the need to keep its Safety Quality Assessment System (SQAS) up-to-date. The SQAS scheme is a key tool in measuring and improving the performance of logistics service providers and distributors. This year some major changes were made to the questionnaires in response to new developments in best practice guidelines and to keep abreast of... the growing demands for sustainability. The recently launched SQAS 2015 revision will make the scheme more comprehensive. Since the last major revision of SQAS in 2011, Cefic has developed and published several new best practice guidelines. At the same time other assessment systems that cover corporate social responsibility (CSR), such as the Together for Sustainability (TfS) initiative, were created. [read more]

APLICA is the French trade association for professional certified tank cleaners. The association was founded in 1992 and is made up of companies whose primary activity is the internal cleaning of highway tanks, an essential part in the efficiency of the logistics chain. The association’s aims in particular are to: • Take part in all discussions with French and EU authorities on... regulations relating to the cleaning of various containers • Provide information to its members • Develop: - Its relations with partnerships representing carriers in different categories of transport and with partnerships representing shippers - A communication policy on the cleaning of various containers - Its relations with partnerships which share the same aims in other EU states and beyond • Undertake any proceedings which might serve the interests of members in the field of cleaning of various containers. [read more]

L’association APLICA, créée en 1992, regroupe des sociétés dont l’activité principale est le lavage intérieur de citernes routières, maillon qualité essentiel dans la chaîne logistique. Le but a été de professionnaliser ce métier afin de garantir aux industriels de la chimie ou de l’alimentaire... l’assurance que les résidus de leurs produits issus des lavages des citernes soient traités dans le respect du code de l’environnement. L’association a pour but et objet en particulier: • La participation à toutes les discussions avec les autorités françaises et européennes sur la réglementation du lavage de contenants divers • L’information de ses adhérents • Le développement : – des relations avec les associations représentatives des transporteurs par divers modes, et les associations représentatives des chargeurs. – d’une politique de communication sur le lavage de contenants divers. – des relations avec les représentants des associations poursuivant le même but dans les différents pays de l’Union Européenne et pays tiers. • Toute autre action de nature à servir les intérêts des adhérents dans le domaine du lavage de contenants divers. Un axe de travail a été la création d’un certificat de lavage mis en oeuvre en 1993. [read more]

On a European level, 14 foodstuffs are considered as major allergens and are taken into regulatory consideration. These include: • Cereals containing gluten • Shellfish and shellfish-based products • Eggs and egg-based products • Fish and fish-based products • Groundnuts and groundnutrelated products • Soya and soya-based products (with the exception of soya oil that... is completely refined) • Milk and dairy products • Nuts • Celery and celery-based products • Mustard and mustard-based products • Sesame seeds and related products • Sulphur dioxide (SO2) and sulphites (in wine) • Lupins and lupin-based products • Molluscs and mollusc-related products.   For a person with allergies that consumes a foodstuff containing these allergens, a life-threatening reaction called angioedema may take place, resulting in suffocation. From a regulatory standpoint, there is no threshold or limit for the onset of these reactions (except for SO2, set at 10mg/kg or 10ml/litre). It is therefore advisable to check the absence of these traces. This cannot be done with the naked eye and only laboratory tests or the use of quick kits can show the absence of traces. [read more]

Au niveau européen, quatorze denrées alimentaires sont considérées comme allergènes majeurs et pris en compte dans la règlementation. Ce sont les suivants: céréales contenant du gluten, crustacés et produits à base de crustacés, oeufs et produits à base d’oeuf, poissons et produits à base de poisson,... arachides et produits à base d’arachide, soja et produits à base de soja, à l’exception de l’huile de soja entièrement raffinée, lait et produits à base de lait, fruits à coque, céleri et produits à base de céleri, moutarde et produits à base de moutarde, graines de sésame et produits à base de graines de sésame, anhydride sulfureux et sulfites (dans tous les vins), lupin et produits à base de lupin, mollusques et produits à base de mollusques. Cela peut entraîner, pour la personne allergique ayant consommé un aliment contenant l’allergène pour lequel elle est réactive, une réaction appelée oedème de Quincke, avec étouffement et pronostic vital engagé. Et, d’un point de vue règlementaire, il n’y a pas de seuil ou limite définie pour le déclenchement de ces réactions (sauf en ce qui concerne le SO2, fixée à 10 mg/kg ou 10 ml/Litre). Il est donc convenu de rechercher l’absence de trace. Or, cette absence n’est pas visible à l’oeil nu et, seuls des tests en laboratoire ou l’usage de kits rapides pourront démontrer cette absence de trace. On peut comprendre aisément que cette problématique « allergène » est omniprésente pour plusieurs raisons : dimension psychologique, population touchée de plus en plus conséquente, et en particulier les enfants, médiatisation de certains accidents mortels, évolution de la réglementation sur l’étiquetage des denrées alimentaires et information des consommateurs plus contraignante, entrant en vigueur récemment. [read more]

Logistics services have become more and more important due to globalisation, and many companies rely on logistics service providers (LSPs) when it comes to the transportation of their goods. Rotterdam-headquartered Den Hartogh Logistics is among the leading LSPs for the petrochemical industry in Europe, offering various services in 17 countries around the world. Den Hartogh Cleaning B.V., based... in Botlek, specialises in tank cleaning services while providing its customers with the highest safety standards. Over the course of its 95-year lifespan, Den Hartogh has dealt with many challenges and, as a result, has learnt to continuously adapt its services to the requirements of the market. ‘We have always been aiming for client satisfaction, offering high quality in products and services,’ explains Patrick Leendertse, the company’s business unit director of tank cleaning. ‘Those are essential to us in our market. In addition, we compete with a strong price and service ration. However, what distinguishes us is that we highly value our relationship with our clients. We see them as partners and are very open and honest in our dealings with them.’ [read more]

The ever increasing demands for process hygiene, combined with significantly increased costs for the energy required to heat up and convey cleaning media and long downtimes are typical challenges for many production plants. It is therefore logical to critically analyse the cleaning processes in production plants to determine and exploit the potential for optimisation. Developing tank cleaning... technology to improve effectiveness and efficiency will help to reduce the required amount of energy and media, and increase hygiene in the plant environment. Cleaning components are used for cleaning in various production plants in the food, beverage, pharmaceutical and chemical industries. They allow the cleaning of tank vessel and reactor surfaces – irrespective of whether they are in contact with the product or not – to be integrated into the process. Cleaning media such as water, detergents or disinfectant solutions are applied to soiled surfaces. Depending on the application (i.e. whether vertical or horizontal tanks with or without internal fittings are to be cleaned and what type of residues are to be removed), various types of cleaning devices lend themselves to be used more effectively in some situations than others. [read more]