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Product Environmental Compliance Print E-mail

The rapidly accelerating adoption is driving Product Environmental Compliance (PEC) activities worldwide and the commensurate financial risks they engender for manufacturing companies. 

From a geographic perspective, they are spearheaded by the European Union and spreading rapidly in every major and emerging market worldwide. 

From a product perspective, they address multiple industry sectors, including the electronics industry. From an environmental perspective, these directives address the “Big Three” issues: energy use; waste; and toxicity. 

Companies are under increasing pressure to reduce the toxicity within its products. This pressure is growing in scope and intensity.  

 

Governmental Activity    
·         January, 2003: The EU passed its RoHS Directive

·         August, 2005: Tthe EU mandated RoHS compliance at the homogenous material level
·         July 1, 2006:
   o    EU RoHS takes effect    
            o    Japan RoHS takes effect
·       January 1, 2007:  CA RoHS took effect with a narrow scope of covered devices
·        March, 2007:  China RoHS Phase 1 took effect
·         May 22, 2007: EU Parliament restricts a number of toxic chemicals that impact water quality
·         June 1, 2007: The EU’s REACH regulation comes into force. ECHA is formed

·         June 17, 2007: Canada identifies the 2nd batch of substances that will be restricted
·         June 20, 2007:
        o    Norway submits its Prohibition of Hazardous Substances (PoHS) to the World Trade Organization. 
             It severely restricts 18 substances, only 2 of which are RoHS substances
        o    EU Parliament votes to ban the import and export of mercury starting in 2010
·         January 1, 2008: Korea RoHS takes effect
·         June 1, 2008: REACH’s pre-registration period begins 

 

Corporate Activity
In parallel with the above, virtually all of the largest electronics companies now have their own list of restricted substances. Often, these lists contain many more substances and lower thresholds than are governmentally restricted. Increasingly, they are incorporated into Green Procurement programs. 

Conclusion
The world is going “green”, and every manaufacturing industry is a prime target. 

Total Quality Management (TQM) practices are evolving into Total Quality Environmental Management (TQEM) practices.  

Today, manufacturing products with lower toxicity is a condition of doing business. The challenge for manuafcturing comapnies is to implement a cost-effective, time-efficient compliance solution in regard to global PEC toxicity Directives – and to turn its compliance activities into ongoing routine processes. 
 
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