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European Energy Law 'More Profound than RoHS'
By Steve Bush -- Electronics Weekly, 5/17/2006
Almost every electronics company in the U.K. will be affected by a the EU's Energy using Products directive, which aims to cut energy consumption.
“It promises to have an even more profound effect on industry than the RoHS directive,” Gary Nevison, who heads RoHS work at distributor Premier Farnell, told Electronics Weekly.
The Energy using Products (EuP) directive will become U.K. law before September 2007, and aims to cut energy consumption across the continent by promoting best life-cycle energy design practice in almost all products.
Manufacturers, not just producers as defined in the RoHS directive, will be held responsible -- being required to perform an assessment of the energy used by each of their model throughout its lifecycle.
Companies will have to design energy consumption out of products, which will be judged against best-practice for each type of product.
“EuP will affect all energy using products and sub-assemblies, and will fundamentally challenge the U.K. electronic industry’s design and specification of products,” Mark Shayler of environmental design consultancy Eco3, said.
“Businesses will have to design out environmental impact and prove that this has been design out. It will be part of the CE [marking] requirements.”
EuP is a framework directive. These allow well-behaved industry sectors to self-regulate. However, the framework provides for the easy introduction of compulsory legislation over poorly-performing sectors. Compulsion comes through statutory instruments known as “implementing measures.”
According to legislative consultancy ERA Technology, products under consideration include: PCs, office equipment, televisions, battery chargers and external power supplies.
In addition, the stand-by or off losses in all products are likely to be the subject of implementing measures.
“Industries need to consider product design in terms of environmental impact. Including: raw material extraction, production impacts, energy use, water use, consumable use, disposal impacts, and reuse of products,” said Eco3’s Shayler.
Electronics Weekly is the London-based sister publication of Electronic News.
