To provide a context for the need of environmental regulations, the rapid evolution of technology and the manufactured goods developed based on that technology causes increasing amounts of obsolete and discarded product. This obsolete and discarded product, referred to as Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) is creating mountains of recycled product around the globe. The disassembly of this recycled equipment is creating tremendous toxic waste because of the hazardous substances involved, which generates a risk for human health and the environment. Due to the increased risks caused by the recycling of WEEE, individuals and governments have become more aware of the need for environmental protection and energy control. Governments are engaged in formulating regulations for reducing the significant growth of hazardous waste. Industry is also involved with government and agency efforts for creating new legislation and regulations to address customer demands for greener supply and recycling chains. Regulations for the control of hazardous substances are proliferating around the world. Restriction of the use of certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS) for electrical and electronic products and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment(WEEE) are just two of many regulations and restrictions put in place to address the growing worldwide concern.
These regulations, along with a variety of other international and national directives and regulations have been the driving force behind the HSF Mark™. There have been significant milestones in the identification, control and management of hazardous substances, culminating in the inception and evolution of the Hazardous Substance Process Management (HSPM) program and the HSF Mark. The major significant milestones are outlined below:
The End of Life Vehicles Directive (ELV) is a Directive of the European Union. The intent of the ELV directive is to address the issue of disposing of motor vehicles that have reached the end of their useful lives. Initially proposed by the European Commission in 1997, the legislation was adopted by the European Parliament and the Council in September 2000. It was published on October 21st, 2000 (Directive 2000/53/EC - the "ELV Directive").
The WEEE Directive (Directive 2002/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 2003 on waste electrical and electronic equipment) was placed in force on August 13th, 2005 in all EU States, with the first priority of directive being the prevention of electric and electronic equipment waste. The objective of the directive is to establish separate collection, treatment, recovery targets, financing from private household and others, information from users, and information from treatment facilities (end of life notice).
Argentina introduced a bill (207/2006) in March 2006 which would become the first national law in Latin America to implement waste management and hazardous substances reduction.
The RoHS Directive (Directive 2002/95/EC of the European Parliament) became effective for all EU Statesin July 2006. This directive specifies the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances and became known as RoHS. The directive also specifies that only compliant product can be distributed within the EU market. The aim of RoHS is to reduce the content of hazardous substances in waste, and therefore limit the presence of such substances in products and production processes, establish a program to combat environmental pollution by cadmium and stimulates research into substitutes in conjunction with the measures of collection, treatment, recycling and disposal of waste electrical electronic Equipment (WEEE directive), reduce problems due to heavy metals and flame retardants.
The Packaging Directive (Directive2005/20/EC of the European Parliament) was originally established as Directive 94/62/EC of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 20 December 1994 on Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive and was revised by Directive 2004/12/EC and Directive 2005/20/EC and article 11 was placed in force on July 1st, 2006. The objectives of the packaging directive are to address the environment and internal EU markets; establish and implement systems to collect used packaging; establish and implement recovery and recycling targets; establish packaging essential requirements; provide a guarantee of free movement of packaged goods and limit the content of lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium to Pb+Cd+Hg+Cr6 less than or equal to 100 ppm.
The package directive applies to everything those ships anywhere in the EU. Japan's "Enforcement Regulation of the Waste Management and Public Cleansing Law," in force since July 1, 2006, identifies the same products and restricts the same hazardous substances as the EU RoHS. This law also provides for implementation of a labeling system for 6 hazardous substances (lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, PBB, PBDE), and hazardous substance restriction is effectively introduced through mandatory marking or labeling. The law also requires that a material declaration tale must be available on a manufacturer's website.
The Battery Directive (Directive 2006/66/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 September 2006) regulates the manufacture and disposal of batteries and accumulators in the European Union. This directive repealed Directive 91/157/EEC, which was originally approved in March 1991 to reduce the hazards involved with the disposal of batteries by explicitly banning certain chemicals and metals used in batteries and setting maximum quantities of chemicals in batteries, as well as requiring waste management and take-back programs for batteries.
REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical substances) is a new European Community Regulation on chemicals and their safe use (EC 1907/2006). The new law entered into force on 1 June 2007. The aim of REACH is to improve the protection of human health and the environment through the better and earlier identification of the intrinsic properties of chemical substances. At the same time, innovative capability and competitiveness of the EU chemicals industry should be enhanced. The benefits of the REACH system will come gradually, as more and more substances are phased into REACH. The Regulation also calls for the progressive substitution of the most dangerous chemicals when suitable alternatives have been identified.
Asia Pacific (often referred to as China RoHS) has similar restrictions as the EU, but has a somewhat different approach. China RoHS specifies a list of products, known as the "catalogue," rather than EU RoHS specifying categories where products are included unless specifically excluded. Some of the Electronic Information Products (EIPs) specified in China RoHS, which are not included on EU RoHs, such as radar systems, semiconductor-manufacturing equipment, photo-masks, etc. The Administrative Measures on the Control of Pollution Caused by Electronic Information Products (EIPs) was placed in force March 1st, 2007 and applies to producers and importers, alike. The scope of products (article 3 of the directive) is electronic information products only and includes radar products, electronic communications equipment, broadcast TV products, computers and accessories, household electronic products, electronic measurement instrument, electronic product for special use, instruments, electronic components, special materials, product accessories and packaging, and some industrial equipment. The same list of hazardous substances and other toxic substances are in effect as that defined by the EU states, but hexavalent chromium is allowed when used in metal passivation.
California's Electronic Waste Recycling Act (EWRA) incorporates SB20, 2003 & SB 50, 2004 and has been in force since January 1, 2007. The EWRA is intended for certain Electronic Information Equipment (IT, Video, LCD TV, Laptop computers, DVD players, etc.) and specifies the same hazardous substance restrictions (lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium) and values as those specified by EU RoHS.
Korea has enacted the Act for Resource Recycling of Electrical/Electronic Products and Automobiles of 27 April 2007, for EEE and Automotives, which became effective in January 2008 and aligns with RoHS, WEEE and ELV. Application decrees are to be published in the future.
IECQ Hazardous Substance Process Management (HSPM) documentary is published by Quality Digest in June 2009. A documentary series is published by Quality Digest that discusses the issues driving ROHS and WEEE, as well as other e-waste directives and initiatives. It introduces IECQ QC 080000 as a specification that focuses on hazardous sSubstance process management that can help companies meet the requirements of ROHS, WEEE and related standards.
An important message from the IECQ Chairman to all IECQ System IECQ HSPM Certified Companies, dated January 27, 2009. A message from the chairman of IECQ outlining the achievements and benefits of the IECQ HSPM certification program and IECQ's commitment to the program's continued success.
Electronics Components Certification Board and ECC Corpoartion adopts EIATRACK Environmental Regulatory Tracking Service, June, 6, 2009. ECC Corporation plans to promote EIATRACK to manufacturers as an additional vital tool for managing the ongoing process of remaining compliant. The manufacturers and the Certification Bodies (CBs) themselves will be able to take advantage of the TIA member discount on EIATRACK annual subscriptions.
Zhu Zhu Pets and Hazardous Substance Process Management Article published by Quality Digest Magazine on December 2009 discusses the confusion over the testing methods used by Good Guide vs. the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and how Hazardous Substance Process Management (HSPM) could have avoided the issue.
