In February 2003, the European Union issued Directive 2002/95/EC regarding the Restriction of the use of certain Hazardous Substances in electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS) and Directive 2002/96/EC on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). The purpose of this letter is to communicate SBS’s targets for achieving compliance with these directives and a summary of our timeline.
The RoHS directive requires producers of electrical and electronic equipment to eliminate the use of six environmentally sensitive substances: lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, and the use of polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) flame retardants, in products sold in the European Union (EU) beginning July 1, 2006.
The WEEE directive requires producers of electrical and electronic equipment, including sub-systems and ancillary equipment, to use design practices which take into account and facilitate dismantling and recovery, in particular the reuse and recycling of WEEE, their components and materials. For the Information Technology industry, specific quotas must be met beginning December 31, 2006.
We are very aware of the impending EU directives and have copies of the latest release of both documents. We are pursuing steps toward full compliance. We are in the process of contacting our suppliers and having the information back with their roadmaps by December 31, 2004. We are planning to begin transitioning by July 1, 2005 and have most of our products RoHS compliant by March 31, 2006.
We are planning on submitting a certificate to our customers that we are RoHS compliant.
