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RoHS Directive (2002/95/EC)
The Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS) Directive was passed into law by the European Union (E.U.). It affects manufacturers, sellers, distributors and recyclers of electrical and electronic equipment containing lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chrome, polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE). After July 1, 2006 the use of these materials will be banned in new products sold in Europe.
Multitone is committed to protecting people and the environment and we are working on identifying any materials used in our processes that could pose a potential hazard to our employees, customers or the environment.
In 2004, Multitone began the process of converting all of its products to be built without any of the banned materials. The qualification of RoHS-compliant components supplied by our vendors and the implementation of new manufacturing processes related to this Directive are underway and should be completed before the end of 2005.
All of Multitone's products and their packaging materials sold worldwide will be fully RoHS-compliant by July 1, 2006. An exception to this will be certain legacy products for which RoHS-compliant components are unavailable from the suppliers.
WEEE Directive (2002/96/EC)
The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) applies to companies that manufacture, sell, distribute, recycle or treat electrical and electronic equipment and to consumers in the E.U. It covers all large and small household appliances, IT equipment, radio and audio equipment, electrical tools and telecommunications equipment.
The Directive aims to reduce the waste arising from electrical and electronic equipment and to improve the environmental performance of all those involved in the life cycle of these products.
The Directive follows a specific timetable, but the actual legal regulation timescales have been different throughout the EU territories. Multitone intend to comply with the UK timescale for implementation, as their governing body. The timetable for this is as follows: -
- Producers (manufacturers, sellers, distributors) are to begin registration in the first quarter of 2006 .
- By June 2006 private households will be able to return their WEEE to collection facilities free of charge and producers will be responsible for financing these facilities. For WEEE returned from others than private households producers will have to finance collection, treatment, recovery and disposal for products placed on the market after August, 13, 2005. For products placed on the market before this date, producers may be able to recover some of these costs.
- By June 2006 producers will be required to achieve a series of demanding recycling and recovery targets.
Product placed on the market after 13th August 2005, will carry the "wheelie bin" logo as specified by the Directive. Although the final disposal schemes are not yet in place in the UK, Multitone will take-back marked product for disposal in the intervening period. Any equipment supplied before 13th August 2005, will only be recovered if we are supplying new "like for like" equipments, otherwise the end-user will be responsible for disposal.
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