Once you have prioritised your substances and selected some of them as candidates for substitution, it is time to look for potential alternatives. Setting the scope of the substitution project is critical given that this is the step where you determine:

(a) the level of stakeholder engagement you intend to undertake;
(b) the goals and principles underlying the project; and
(c) decision criteria on which alternative to choose.

Setting the scope of the substitution project also involves establishing boundaries for the assessment. This helps to focus resources and outline a plan to assess alternatives, including planning which health effects, exposure pathways, life cycle segments, and technical functionality/performance attributes need to be considered.

As a first step, you should carefully consider if there is a real need for the technical functionality provided by the substance of concern and/or if there are other ways of achieving the same goal. For example, do you really need to provide your customers with a printed receipt that may contain hazardous ink developers, or would an electronic receipt be a suitable alternative? As you think of possible safer alternatives, look into your options more widely, such as the substances, techniques and product designs that you could use.