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Dell call on the EU to ban hazardous chemicals
Dell and three other of the world’s PC manufacturers have called on the European Union to ban two dangerous chemicals used within the industry by the end of 2015.
Yesterday, Dell along with Acer, HP and Sony Ericsson approached the EU and insisted that they impose a ban of the use of brominated flame retardants (BFR) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in consumer electronic products in line with Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive.
RoHS already bans the use of six hazardous materials, including lead, mercury and cadmium.
Several petition groups namely ChemSec, Clean Production Action and the European Environmental Bureau have joined in on the action.
“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,” said Daniel Paska, environmental specialist at Sony Ericsson.
Many believe that BFR and PVC should be banned because when they are destroyed by incineration at the end of their life, they produce pollutants and carcinogens. This is particularly the case if the incineration process is poor, which is often the case in developing countries where first-world electronic waste is often sent to be destroyed.
The European Parliament will be asked to vote on whether or not the inclusion of BFR and PVC should be included in an amendment to the RoHS directive, anticipated to be in June.
Mats Pellbäck Scharp, head of corporate sustainability at Sony Ericsson said that there should be “no effect” on the technology from removing BFR and PVC.
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