by jbs100609c — October 9, 2009—Two nonprofit environmental organizations, ChemSec and Clean Production Action, have launched a research report on companies that are leading the electronics industry by moving away from chemicals that can lead to health and environmental problems.
The report, “Greening Consumer Electronics: Moving Away from Bromine and Chlorine” features seven companies that have engineered environmental solutions that negate the need for most—or in some cases all—uses of brominated and chlorinated chemicals.
The seven companies featured in the report demonstrate best industry practices and provide critical guidance for the development of environmentally robust and sound industry-wide standards and policies: Apple (U.S.), Sony Ericsson (U.K.), Seagate (U.S.), DSM Engineering Plastics (Netherlands), Nan Ya (Taiwan), Indium (U.S.), and Silicon Storage Technology, Inc. (U.S.).
High-volume uses of bromine and chlorine in flame retardant and plastic resin applications such as brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) gained worldwide attention when scientific studies demonstrated their link to the formation of highly toxic dioxin compounds. Dioxin, a potent human carcinogen that is toxic in very low amounts, along with other problematic compounds, are unintentionally released into the environment during the burning and smelting of electronic waste, explains ChemSec.
The current infrastructure to safely reuse and recycle obsolete equipment is insufficient for the fastest growing waste stream in the world, notes ChemSec, particularly in the developing countries to which the waste is increasingly sent. Since 2003 the European Union has limited the use of certain heavy metals and brominated flame retardants in electronic products through the RoHS Directive (Restriction of Hazardous Substances), which is currently being revised. RoHS has been adopted globally and is considered one of the most important environmental standards in the electronics sector.
