Contracts / purchasing

Both the WEEE and RoHS Directives will impact on contracting and procurement. The managment of information could become the most challenging issue for complying with the regulations.

WEEE - Impacts of Contracting and Purchasing

Purchasing of EEE and components

When a producer buys components and/or finished products or sub-assemblies from suppliers there are a number of issues to consider.

• The recovery and recycling regulations are all weight based. Hence it is essential that suppliers of components, sub-assemblies, and finished product provide relevant weight data. They should also include details of the numbers of products/unit supplied.
  
  
• Producers are legally obliged to provide disassembly and recycling information upon request. In order to do this, producers will require information from their supply-chain. This will form part of the contract between businesses within the chain. It is important that Producers understand how their products are disassembled, what materials they are made of, and how they should be disposed of (re-furbished, recycled, incinerated, landfilled). A sample Product Disclosure form can be found by following this link - Sample WEEE Disclosure Form.
  
  
• A key element of the WEEE Regulations relates to the removal/pre-treatment of certain materials and components. This gives rise to two issues. Firstly, wherever possible these components and materials should be removed /replaced wherever possible. Secondly, declarations need to be completed in order that the producer is aware of their inclusion in final product. This will then allow removal/pre-treatment prior to recycling. A sample Pre-treatment Disclosure Form can be found by following this link - Pre-treatment Disclosure Form.

Sale of EEE

Producers of domestic EEE are obliged to offer free take-back of separately collected product at the end of its life. Hence, the contract between the producer and the customer is straightforward. The situation for business-to-business sales is much more complex. Producers are obliged to take back equipment on a like-for-like basis when supplying new equipment to a business buyer, as long as the take-back and purchase occur in a single transaction. However, there is scope for the introduction of alternative arrangements within the standard contracting process. This obligation extends to the recovery of other manufacturers products as well as your own, as long as they perform the same function. For suppliers of business-to-business equipment this will have a significant impact in terms of altering contracts to reflect the new requirements, funding recovery, arranging recycling, or paying a third-party to meet their obligation. It will also impact larger buyers of EEE such as larger businesses and local authorities as they may be left covering disposal costs due to poor contract negotiation.

RoHS - Impacts of Contracting and Purchasing

The supply-chain and contracting implications of RoHS are much more complex. Many Producers are not aware of the make-up and construction of their own products; hence the declarations provided by the supply-chain partners are essential. The Producer is legally responsible for compliance under RoHS and has to show due-diligence.

Each supplier of sub-assemblies, components and whole product falling into categories 1-7 and 10 of the WEEE Directive will be required to certify that the following chemicals and compounds have not been intentionally added:

• Lead
• Mercury
• Hexavalent Chromium
• Cadmium
• Polybrominated biphenyl
• Polybrominated diphenyl ether

There are a number of exemptions that are listed in the How will it affect my company How will the RoHS Directive work Exemptions section of the toolkit.

Additionally, there are allowable maximum concentration levels for the listed compounds and chemicals. "For the purposes of the RoHS Regulations, a maximum concentration value of up to 0.1% by weight of homogenous materials for lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, PBB and PBDE and of up to 0.01% by weight of homogenous materials for cadmium will be permitted in the manufacture of new EEE".

It is vital that we fully understand the definitions in the above paragraph. For example, "homogenous material" means a material (of uniform composition throughout) that cannot be mechanically disjointed into different materials. Therefore, a PCB is not homogenous material, but the solder on it would be. A semiconductor package contains many homogenous materials including the plastic moulding material, the tin-electroplating coatings on the lead frame, the lead frame alloy and the gold-bonding wires.

Producers must demonstrate compliance with the regulations by providing the enforcement authority with satisfactory evidence of such compliance in the form of technical documentation. The UK is taking a self-declaration approach as the basis of compliance. The enforcement authority will carry out market surveillance to detect non-compliant products and may conduct tests for this purpose.

Producers will need to demonstrate compliance by collecting supplier declarations and retaining them for four years after the particular product was placed upon the market. A sample materials declaration form is provided with this toolkit here. This sample focuses solely on RoHS proscribed materials, however, it is possible to build in other hazardous materials. A further option is for producers to undertake their own analysis. Whilst most suppliers will accurately complete material declarations it is possible that they may not. Additionally, there are higher-risk components that producers may wish to test in any case. Testing may also be appropriate where material declarations are not available. There are a range of self-test kits on the market and numerous laboratory facilities that can undertake testing on a commercial basis. Further details are available from eco3 at info@eco3.co.uk.