Risk Assessment and the Management of Environmentally Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment.

Producers that distribute and/or sell electrical and electronic equipment in the EU must ensure compliance with a raft of legislation that restricts environmentally hazardous substances in such equipment. Producers must also address the concerns of their stakeholders (e. g. consumers and pressure groups) regarding environmentally hazardous substances in their products. Producers are at serious risk of losing sales, profitability and market share as well as diminishing the value of their brands and tarnishing their reputations if they do not comply with legislation or address stakeholder expectations. For example, an enforcement official could detect non-compliance with the law and impose a distribution block that stopped a producer from supplying products and subsequently bring an abrupt end to its trading. Ensuring compliance with the law involves identifying and understanding the requirements of relevant legislation and devising and implementing plans to meet these requirements. This is challenging when the legislation restricts substances in individual product parts that, in the case of electronic products, are numerous as well as sourced by producers from hundreds of suppliers. Hence producers must manage their supply chains to manage the risks that they are exposed to. While producers use risk assessment in product design and manufacture, few producers have assessed risks in their supply chains. A tool was developed for use by producers to assess their exposure to such risks. This tool was tested at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and proved a powerful method for identifying and prioritising key risks in the management of environmentally hazardous substances in products. The tool could be readily adapted and used by other producers that wished to assess the same or similar risks in their supply chains and complements existing management practices (e. g. auditing, product testing)