On Wednesday (27.1.21), the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) adopted its report on the new EU Circular Economy Action Plan, with 66 votes in favour, 6 against and 7 abstentions.
In November, the EU Commission started a first hearing period for the EED. The period to commend and give input is going to last until 9 February 2021. The following text was taken from the EU Commission`s site:
On 6 November 2020, the German leading newspaper “Süddeutsche Zeitung” published this article on the recent situation regarding electric hand dryers in Germany. Source is an interview conducted by dpa (German Press Agency) with Roman Gorovoy, managing partner at our member Electrostar/Starmix.
New requirements for occupational safety in times of the corona pandemic are causing criticism from manufacturers of electric hand dryers. Reference to the original article (German language). For the fully translated arcticle please click “Read More”.
Over two years, eHA among others accompanied this study. We publish some deductive quotes out of the final report: “The data gathered for this preparatory study indicates that there is not a simple relation between the price of products and their performance in terms of energy use.”
Under the European Green Deal, the Commission has committed to stronger action on climate change. It aims to assess how the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions could responsibly be reduced by at least 50% to 55% by 2030. As the efficient use of energy is key to achieving such a target, the review aims to provide insights into how the EED could be revised to:
Tucson (Arizona)/Brussels September 2020 – Health organizations worldwide agree that proper handwashing and drying can prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Now, renowned researchers at the University of Arizona have concluded that there is “no data to support any human health claims relative to hand dryers versus paper towel use.” Their scoping review, Comparison of Electric Hand Dryers and Paper Towels for Hand Hygiene: A Critical Review of the Literature, was recently published in the Journal of Applied Microbiology.
EU energy consumption fell in 2018, having been on the rise from 2014 to 2017, but a considerable acceleration in this reduction is needed if the 2020 target for energy efficiency is to be achieved. The report confirms that under normal circumstances [i.e. without COVID-19], it is unlikely that the EU would have met its 2020 target. This will remain an issue, when energy demand recovers after the crisis, with a view on achieving the 2030 energy efficiency targets.
The current social media campaign of eHA addresses two main topics: Hygiene and the environment. We`re thankful to be able underlining the fact, that Hand Dryers stand for Hand Hygiene!
Leading microbiologist Dr. David Webber concludes that the use of hand dryers in the washroom does not contribute to the spread of Covid 19 and that warm air hand dryers are safe to use during the current pandemic. The virus is spread by droplet transmission and contact with contaminated surfaces. To reduce the risk of infection in the washroom, guidance from the WHO states that hands must be washed thoroughly using soap and hot water and then dried using either a paper towel or a hand dryer.