Legislation

The RoHS Directive applies to electrical and electronic equipment, and restricts certain heavy metals and brominated flame retardants from being used above maximum concentration values in ‘homogeneous materials'. That restrictions apply at the material-level is of much significance - electrical products are manufactured from numerous materials sourced from various companies within global supply chains.  Manufacturers have responded to this legislation by seeking assurances from their suppliers, often in the form of signed declarations, extended bills of materials and/or test data.

Then there is the REACH Regulation.  In general terms, this is applicable more to the manufacturers, importers and distributors of chemicals than those of finished products like ovens, fridges and freezers. However, certain requirements still apply, particularly if products entail an ‘intentional release' of a substance during their use. In such cases the registration and authorisation of such a substance may be necessary.  As of June next year, the REACH Regulation will also act as the mechanism by which the EU will restrict the use of certain substances in materials at a general (not product-specific) level. This legislation is relevant to manufacturers of electrical products containing materials affected by the restrictions.

National legislation is also applicable if it in some way surpasses the requirements of EU legislation. The Norwegian ‘PoHS' law is noteworthy in this regard.  The Norwegian Government is seeking to restrict a number of substances from use in consumer products, including some electrical and electronic equipment.  In its current form, the ‘PoHS' law would require manufacturers of electrical products to comply with a wider-range of substance restrictions than that which feature in the RoHS Directive.  For manufacturers that work to global specifications for their products, the passage of this law is likely to lead to a re-issuing of such specifications.

Campaigns

Campaigns run by environmental pressure groups, such as Greenpeace or Friends of the Earth, called not only for governmental action on the use of certain chemicals in consumer products, but also for manufacturers to act voluntarily.  Greenpeace, for example, has sought commitments from 14 leading global IT and telecommunications manufacturers to surpass current legal requirements and cease using PVC and all brominated flame retardants in their products.  Greenpeace has publicly compared the environmental policies and practices of these manufacturers to highlight who has been the most and least responsive to their requests.

Implications for retailers

By distributing branded electrical products in the UK and across EU Member States, manufacturers become responsible for placing products ‘on the market'. As such, they have to manage compliance with the legislation that applies to their products (eg the RoHS Directive).  What are the responsibilities (if any) of retailers in this context?

First and foremost, detection of product non-compliance with, say, RoHS requirements may well result in sales blocks and product recalls.  So retailers would be affected as much as manufacturers. Therefore many retailers are asking for compliance assurances from manufacturers in much the same way as manufacturers are asking for compliance assurances from materials suppliers.

There is always a possibility that environmental pressure groups will start targeting retailers selling the affected products. Friends of the Earth have already done this, producing a survey of the chemicals management policies of 28 major UK high street retailers.  And, of course, some retailers fared better than others when Friends of the Earth published the results of their survey online.

Therefore retailers - like manufacturers - need to become more ‘chemically aware'.  It is time to get interested in the existing and potential legislation and start gathering information about chemicals used in the materials, components, or finished products on sale in your store.

The supply chain is fast becoming a chain that conveys environmental information as much as it is a chain of material/product flow.

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