Major ICT vendors and European NGOs have urged on the EU to strengthen its rules on hazardous materials.

 

IT firms Acer, Dell and HP, mobile phone vendor Sony Ericsson and NGOs ChemSec, Clean Production Action and the European Environmental Bureau, have called for the EU to widen its list of banned materials under its Restrictions on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive. 

 

Currently the RoHS restricts some heavy metals and two types of brominated flame retardants (BFR). 

 

However, the group has called for restrictions on all BFR as well as PVC. When BFR and PVC are incinerated under substandard recycling conditions, they form halogenated dioxins that are potent toxic chemicals, Sony Ericsson said.

 

Sony Ericsson says it has been developing products in the past 18 months without these materials and believes BFRs and PVC “should be phased out from electrical and electronic products as soon as possible.”

 

“Sony Ericsson is committed to a complete phase-out of halogenated organic substances from its products, and at the current time has phased out almost all BFRs,” said Daniel Paska, an environmental expert at the handset-maker. 

 

“We believe the electronics industry has a responsibility to move proactively to find substitutes to replace BFR and PVC and are therefore calling on EU legislators to show leadership on this issue by voting to tighten the RoHS directive.”

 

Sony Ericsson has to date phased out all PVC in its products and nearly all halogenated flame retardants.