Directives have been introduced in a bid to limit the environmental impact of electrical and electronic waste and will have a massive impact on manufacturers of electrical and electronic products
Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services (BVCPS) is offering an innovative system to help its customers ensure compliance with the stringent new 2002/96/EC waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and 2002/95/EC restrictions of hazardous substances (RoHS) directives.
BVCPS has drawn on its wealth of experience in electrical testing and quality standards to provide support and advice to manufacturers on how they can conform to these new regulations.
The WEEE RoHS legislation is set to be fully implemented in the UK in early 2006; therefore manufacturers need to be preparing for the changes in legislation immediately in order to be ready for this date.
The WEEE directive establishes strict requirements regarding the collection, treatment, recycling and recovery of electrical and electronic waste.
As of August 2005 all relevant products have to be correctly labelled with a WEEE recycling symbol.
The new RoHS regulations, the implication of which has recently been put back to June 2006, prevent new electrical and electronic products from using substances which are considered hazardous, such as heavy metals, lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium.
BVCPS is offering guidance to companies on how they can ensure full compliance with the new regulations prior to the 2006 implementation date.
For example, many products may have to be totally re-designed in order to fit in with the RoHS directive, with aspects such as lead-free solders and not using cadmium or hexavalent chromium platings for corrosion and wear resistance, needing to be taken into consideration.
As well as testing products for compliance and checking appropriate product labelling, BVCPS is also offering a full support system to customers, advising on all areas of the legislation and what they mean with regards to specific industries and products.
Paul Clay, electrical manager at BVCPS, comments: "These new regulations have implications on all areas of manufacturing and retailing.
"For example, importers need to ensure that all of their suppliers are compliant and component manufacturers also need to ensure their products are compliant prior to them being installed, hence a massive knock-on effect throughout the entire industry.
"BVCPS is trying to make this transition easier for its customers by advising them on areas of the regulations which may not be so obvious on first reading.
"As well as testing products for compliance we are also here to provide support and information, drawing on our expert knowledge and experience to do so."
