UK Government Publishes Environmental Improvement Plan with Commitments on Chemical Management

The UK Government published its revised 2025 Environmental Improvement Plan on 1st December. The plan is wide-ranging and covers many aspects of how the Government will promote nature and protect the environment. However, specific actions have been identified for chemical management and for preventing exposure of people and releases into the environment.

Three specific commitments in the plan could have potential impacts on the UK furniture industry and compliance within the supply chain:

Commitment 40: Reform of UK REACH

The Government will reform the UK Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) to enable protections against chemical pollution to be applied more quickly, efficiently, and more closely aligned with our closest trading partners, especially the EU, by December 2028.

To deliver this, the Government has promised to:

“Take regulatory decisions made by other trusted jurisdictions as the starting point for UK regulatory decisions to enable new protections to be applied more quickly and more efficiently, and to align regulation more closely with our closest trading partners unless there are compelling reasons to diverge.”

This could mean that aspects of EU REACH implemented post-Brexit may be incorporated into UK law. Examples include:

• The Substances of Concern in Products (SCIP) database
• Annex VII entry 77 on the emission of formaldehyde from treated timber products

Commitment 41: PFAS Action Plan

The Government has committed to publishing a PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) plan during 2026, setting out a range of measures, both regulatory and non-regulatory, to address harmful PFAS releases and protect people and the environment from exposure.

This is not currently expected to be a comprehensive ban as proposed under EU REACH.

In addition, legislation will be updated to align with changes to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) due in late 2025. The Government will also undertake compliance campaigns on waste materials to ensure that those containing POPs are sent for incineration rather than being sent to landfill or diverted back into the supply chain.

As upholstered furniture has previously been identified as a potential source of these chemicals, it could reasonably be expected to be targeted by such compliance campaigns.

At this stage, these proposals are commitments to take action, with delivery expected through to 2030. As further details become available, FIRA will provide training, resources, and advice to help members manage compliance within their supply chains.

The complete Environmental Improvement Plan can be found on the UK Government website: Government Environmental Improvement Plan 2025.

A range of chemical, environmental, and sustainability training modules covering substances controlled by REACH and POPs regulations are available from The Association’s service provider, Fira International, all at discounted rates for FIRA members. Explore Fira International Training

For more information about any of the issues raised in this article, please email info@fispfurniture.com.