EuP urges life-cycle management
By Suzanne Deffree, News Editor, Electronic News -- EDN, August 16, 2007
The European Commission estimates that designers determine more than 80% of all product-related environmental impact during the planning phase and, for this reason, in 2005 published the EuP (energy-using-products)-framework directive. The directive, which aims to integrate environmental considerations as early as possible into the product-development process through the use of ecodesign requirements, came into force in August 2005, and EU (European Union) member states had until Aug 11, 2007, to implement EuP into national law.
EuP looks at the entire life cycle of a product—from design and manufacturing to use and disposal—with an eye on saving energy. It will require products to meet power-consumption guidelines that the EU sets. It will further force most manufacturers to do life-cycle assessments for their products to determine the environmental impact, including that from IC design and wafer fabrication. At each phase of an electronics product—from raw material to end of life—manufacturers must assess consumption of materials and energy, emissions to air and water, pollution, expected waste, and recycling.
The directive's impact goes beyond the electronics-supply chains of EU member states. Expect China's MII (Ministry of Information Industry) to release six more regulations in the second half of 2007 to tighten pollution controls in its electronic-product-supply chain in response to EuP.
