New EU Recommendation on Safe and Sustainable by Design chemicals and materials

Published: 11 March 2026

Yesterday (10th March) the EU Commision published the Commission Recommendation on revising the European assessment framework for “Safe and Sustainable by Design” (SSbD) chemicals and materials.  

The Recommendation (EU) 2026/510 was adopted on 6 March 2026 and published in the Official Journal on 10 March 2026.

It revises the Commission’s 2022 SSbD framework and is presented as an updated European reference framework for research and innovation involving chemicals and materials.

What happened?
The European Commission has updated its earlier SSbD framework following testing phases and stakeholder feedback. The revised framework is intended to support innovators, industry, Member States and research actors in integrating safety and sustainability considerations earlier in the development of chemicals, materials and production processes.

What is the purpose of the new framework?
According to the Commission, the revised SSbD framework is meant to support innovation towards chemicals and materials that are safer and more sustainable across their life cycle, while also contributing to EU competitiveness, circularity and industrial transition objectives.

What is new compared with the 2022 framework?

Among the main changes, the revised framework:

• introduces a new scoping analysis at the start of the process,
• allows for different entry points depending on innovation maturity and data availability,
• keeps the focus on safety and environmental sustainability,
• and now also adds social and economic sustainability considerations, including issues such as supply-chain vulnerabilities and life-cycle costs.

What does this mean in practice?
This is a recommendation, so it is not legally binding and does not create new legal obligations for companies.

However, it is an important policy signal. It shows how the Commission increasingly wants safety, sustainability, circularity and competitiveness to be considered together in chemicals and materials innovation.

For industry, the framework may become relevant in particular in discussions around:

• substitution of substances of concern,
• advanced materials,
• circular product and packaging design,
• end-of-life and recyclability,
• access to innovation support and future R&I initiatives,
• and broader debates on sustainable industrial transformation.