Business approaches to environmental policies

The management of materials in electronic products has become a critical business issue for electronics manufacturers; one which is requiring new business process and business management approaches. Where in the past, environmental regulations were focused on managing and reducing the environmental impacts of manufacturing facilities, the regulatory focus has expanded to include reducing manufacturing and product end of life impacts through the regulation of the materials present in products. The most immediate manifestation of this push is the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union jointly enacted Directive 2002/95/EC pertaining to the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (more usually referred to as the "RoHS Directive"), with regulations and initiatives underway in Japan, China, and individual states within the United States. The requirements of these initiatives have demanded a business response in several areas: acknowledgement of the business impacts of these requirements, management of material data for components and end-products, integration of material requirements into existing quality control processes, and development of business processes to track and update product material properties and respond to customer requests for material information.