The new Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) methodology is a European framework created to help companies, researchers and product developers make chemicals and materials safer and more sustainable from the very beginning of innovation. Rather than checking for problems only at the end, the idea is to build safety, environmental performance and social value directly into the design process. The revised document was published in December 2025, and a first revision was performed by the European Commission in March 2026.
The new SSbD proposed framework is meant to support the goals of the European Green Deal and the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability. Although it aims to guide new product design, including safety and performance, from the conceptualisation stage, it is voluntary for companies and producers. One of the central intentions of the document is to support the transition toward a more circular and less toxic economy. The guidance is closely linked to European policy goals such as the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability and the Circular Economy Action Plan. By applying the SSbD framework, companies can reduce dependence on substances that are toxic, persistent, bioaccumulative or difficult to manage at the end of their life cycle.
The new guidance explains that SSbD has two main parts: a redesign phase and an assessment phase. In the redesign phase, innovators consider how a chemical, material, process or product can be improved. This may involve replacing a harmful substance, reducing waste, improving recyclability, lowering energy use or changing the procedure a product is applied. Later, during the assessment phase, the achieved impacts and improvements in safety and sustainability across the full life cycle are checked. A major idea in the new guidance is that assessments should cover the entire life cycle of a chemical or material. This includes raw materials, manufacturing, transport, use by workers or consumers, and what happens at the end of life, for example: recycling or disposal. The framework also stresses the need for companies across the supply chain to share information and work together.
The assessment itself is divided into four steps. The first looks at hazards, meaning whether a chemical has dangerous properties such as toxicity or persistence. Chemicals are grouped into categories based on their harm and concern. If a material falls into the highest-risk group, it should ideally be replaced or redesigned. The next two steps examine exposure and risk during manufacturing, processing and final use. A chemical may be hazardous, but the real risk depends on how large the exposure of people and the environment is. The fourth step focuses on environmental sustainability using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), looking at impacts such as emissions, resource use and waste. The framework also includes annotations on social and economic aspects, such as working conditions, supply chain risks and critical raw materials.
The document is also designed to create a common decision-making framework. Companies often assess safety, environmental performance and business value separately. SSbD tries to integrate these areas into a single process. The methodology combines hazard assessment, exposure assessment, risk assessment and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). It also allows users to include techno-economic performance and social considerations, such as supply chain resilience, worker safety, access to critical raw materials and public acceptance.
For users, the potential impact is significant. Product developers can use the framework to identify risks much earlier, before large investments are made in scaling up production. This can reduce future regulatory costs, avoid the need for expensive reformulation and lower the risk of greater impacts such as market bans. In other words, SSbD is not only a sustainability tool; it can also be seen as a business risk-management tool.
The framework may also improve communication across supply chains because it encourages companies to share information on chemical content, environmental impacts and end-of-life management. This is particularly important for industries such as packaging, polymers and advanced materials where many suppliers contribute to one final product.
Ultimately, the guidance aims to push innovation toward materials and chemicals that are safer for people, less damaging to the environment and more compatible with future regulations. For users, adopting the methodology can create more resilient products, improve compliance and strengthen competitiveness in markets that increasingly value sustainability and transparency. A second revision of the methodological guidance is expected to be published by the European Commission during the first half of 2026.
- WEBSITE: European Commission – Research and Innovation. Safe and sustainable by design (2025).
- WEBSITE: European Commission – Research and Innovation. Strengthened Framework for Safe and Sustainable by Design chemicals and materials to drive Europe’s clean industrial leadership. (2026).