Ericsson has identified a number of materials and substances that are banned or restricted in Ericsson's products and operations. This list, found on the link to the right, applies to all of the company's suppliers and manufacturing operations, including manufacturing sites that have been outsourced.
Ericsson monitors environmental legislation world wide and works together with industry organizations to achieve a harmonized approach to reducing hazardous substances in products. As we apply the same internal requirements for all markets, the result is products that often contain less hazardous substances than the actual market demands.
The RoHS (Restriction of the use of certain Hazardous Substances in electrical and electronic equipment) directive requires that, from July 1, 2006, electrical and electronic equipment put on the market in the EU does not contain more than the permitted levels of hazardous substances. Ericsson products are produced to guidelines that are formed in compliance with this legislation and we are constantly striving to remove or reduce hazardous substances in our products.
When technically feasible alternatives exist, Ericsson’s approach to hazardous substances is proactive and therefore we do not await legislative requirements before making changes. For example, despite there being an exemption under RoHS for lead in solder used in telecommunication infrastructure products, most of Ericsson products are produced with lead-free soldering. Ericsson operates a strict internal exemption handling process taking a restrictive stance towards use of exemptions in the RoHS directive.
The REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical substances) directive came into force in the EU June 1, 2007. Ericsson has identified a need to establish industry best practice and is working in partnership with suppliers, industry organizations and authorities on efficient handling of information on substances according to REACH.
The EuP (Ecodesign for Energy using Products) will soon result in a number of so called Implementing Measures (IM) for specific products. Ericsson continuously monitors the development of IMs and will ensure full compliance with IMs applicable to its products if/when such are developed.
