Page 55 - Design for Environment A Guide to Sustainable Product Development

34 Chapter Thr ee

End-of-Life Vehicles (2000). The purpose of the ELV directive is
to reduce the quantity of solid or hazardous waste generated by
motor vehicles when they are discarded. It restricts the use of heavy
metals and sets a number of objectives for new vehicle design, in -
cluding avoidance of hazardous substances, ease of disassembly and
recycling, and use of recycled materials. Manufacturers are required
to facilitate recycling and recovery by issuing detailed instructions
that include material identification based on coding standards.
Recovery facilities must be set up to safely disassemble vehicles at
no cost to the owner. Vehicles must be stripped of recyclable parts or
materials and drained of fluids, and polluting components such
as batteries and tires must be properly disposed of. As discussed in
Chapter 12, this directive has stimulated DFE practices throughout
the automotive industry supply chain.
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (2003). Known as
the WEEE Directive, this requires each nation to set collection, recy-
cling and recovery targets for electronic products, including televi-
sions, computers, and cellular phones, and imposes the responsibility
for take-back and disposal of the equipment on the original manu-
facturers. Companies are expected to establish an infrastructure for
product take-back without charge to the consumer and to recycle or
dispose of the collected waste in an ecologically-friendly manner. As
discussed in Chapter 11, this has induced many companies to design
their products in a way that facilitates take-back.
Eco-design of Energy-using Products (2005). Known as the EuP
directive, this provides coherent EU-wide rules for eco-design to
ensure that disparities among national regulations do not become
obstacles to intra-EU trade. Rather than setting re quire ments for spe-

cific products, it defines conditions for setting re quirements for envi-
ronmentally relevant product characteristics.
Restriction on Hazardous Substances (2006). The RoHS Direc-
tive seeks to phase out the use of lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent
chromium, and brominated flame retardants that are used in certain
plastics, especially in the electronics industry. These substances are
believed to have adverse environmental impacts, especially at prod-
uct end-of-life. The directive applies to a wide range of products in -
cluding consumer electronics, household appliances, computer and
telecommunications equipment, light bulbs, toys, and sporting goods;
medical devices and monitoring and control instruments received a
temporary exemption. European laws often influ ence those in other
nations; China, Korea, Taiwan, and some U.S. states such as Califor-
nia have already implemented legislation similar to RoHS.
Registration, Evaluation, and Authorisation and Restriction of
Chemicals (2006). The REACH directive requires chemical suppliers,
manufacturers, or importers of more than one metric ton of a chemi-
cal substance annually to register the substance with the European
Chemical Agency central database. It is based on the presumption