American Power Conversion

Transcription

1 American Power Conversion May 16, 2007 European Commission Rue de la Loi Brussels - BELGIUM VIA ENV-ROHS-DIRECTIVE-REVIEW@ec.europa.eu RE: THE REVIEW OF DIRECTIVE 2002/95/EC ON THE RESTRICTION OF THE USE OF CERTAIN HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES IN ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT ( RoHS Directive) INVITATION FOR COMMENTS ON TOPICS AND FOR INFORMATION SUPPLY, APC I MGE -- Critical Power & Cooling Services Comments To Whom It May Concern: The following letter is provided by APC I MGE -- Critical Power & Cooling Services, a subsidiary of Schneider Electric, in response to the above referenced invitation by the Commission requesting topics to become the subjects of review of Directive 2002/95/EC on the Restrictions of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (the RoHS Directive). APC I MGE -- Critical Power & Cooling Services is concerned that inconclusive determination of certain products types, referred to commonly as Grey Area Products, as covered electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) pursuant to Annex 1A and 1B of Directive 2002/96/EC on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (the WEEE Directive) is adversely affecting the enforcement of the requirements of the RoHS Directive by member states and compliance to the Directive s requirements by Producers of electronic products. APC I MGE -- Critical Power & Cooling Services recommends that the Commission include the clarification of the status of product types with inconclusive applicability as a topic under this Review. The following illustrates several of the problems created by inclusive determinations of applicability. Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPSs) are a Grey Area Product, whose determination of applicability to WEEE Directive has been interpreted by various groups as follows: Not a covered product see attachment 1 / CEMEP UPS Report 11/06 Covered, but classified under Category 9 see attachment 2 / UPS Classification by Denmark Covered, but only when a component to a covered piece of EEE see attachment 3 / Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPSs) as a Component Without a clear interpretation of how UPSs will be covered (or not covered) by the WEEE Directive, the Regulators within the EU and the Producers of UPSs do not have a clear target for how the RoHS Directive substance restrictions apply. What has emerged among Producers of UPSs are differing presumptions of applicability and correspondingly different product designs. A survey of UPS units available in Europe all declared by their Producers as compliant with the requirements of the RoHS Directive will show units that are: not considered a covered product and excluded from requiring to conform to the substance restrictions of the RoHS Directive not considered a covered product with stated voluntary conformance to the substance restrictions of the RoHS Directive considered a covered product under Category 9 and excluded from requiring to conform to the substance restrictions of the RoHS Directive considered a component of the EEE it supports conforming to the RoHS substance

2 APC I MGE -- Critical Power & Cooling Services Response to Invitation to Comments related to RoHS Directive May 18, 2007, Page 2 restrictions when it supports a Category 3, 4 and 10 application, but not conforming to the RoHS substance restrictions when it supports a Category 8, 9 or uncovered application. Furthermore, individual EU member states are applying these possible interpretations in different ways resulting in un-harmonized guidance, reporting and enforcement that will make attaining the ultimate goals of the WEEE and RoHS Directives difficult. Studying the applicability issue of Grey Area Products, such as UPSs, and the resultant clarification would be greatly appreciated by APC I MGE -- Critical Power & Cooling Services, our European customers, and Producers of Grey Area Products doing business in Europe. APC greatly appreciates any assistance you and your office can provide in regards to this issue. Should you need to contact APC, please do not hesitate to contact me via rlizotte@apc.com or telephone at Sincerely Yours, Raymond P. Lizotte, Jr. Product Environmental Compliance Engineer Environmental Stewardship Office CC: Jeffery Larason, APC I MGE Jean-Paul Beaudet, APC I MGE Christophe Garnier, APC I MGE Enclosures Attachment 1: CEMEP UPS Report 11/06 Attachment 2: UPS Classification by Denmark Attachment 3: Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPSs) as a Component APC I MGE -- Critical Power & Cooling Services -- The combination of APC and MGE UPS SYSTEMS to form APC I MGE -- Critical Power & Cooling Services creates a worldwide leader in the critical power and cooling services market, offering the widest set of products, solutions and services. The combined operations have well balanced geographical positions, strong innovation capabilities and unparalleled access to market channels. American Power Conversion (APC) was founded in 1981 and provides comprehensive products and services for home and corporate environments that improve availability, manageability and performance of sensitive electronic, network, communication and industrial equipment of all sizes ( MGE UPS SYSTEMS, a subsidiary of Schneider Electric, provides intelligent power protection solutions for business continuity including a full range of equipment: uninterruptible power supplies, static power switches, harmonic filters, and advanced power management solutions ( Schneider Electric is the world s power and control specialist. Through its world-class brands, Merlin Gerin, Square D and Telemecanique, Schneider Electric anticipates and satisfies its customers requirements in the residential, building, industry and energy and infrastructure markets. With 105,000 employees and operations in 190 countries, Schneider Electric generated sales of 13.7 billion in 2006 through 15,000 distributor outlets.

3 Attachment 1: CEMEP UPS Report 11/06

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5 Attachment 2: UPS Classification by Denmark

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7 Attachment 3: Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPSs) as a Component Excerpted from: Often asked about Power Supplies and their RoHS status. As finished goods these do not seem to fit any of the WEEE categories and would be deemed out of scope. However, thinking it through, the majority of power supplies are used as components in, or attached to, other equipment and may therefore have the same status as the equipment they are "part of". A power supply inside a desk top computer is part of a Category 3 product and so will need to be RoHS compliant. However, if the same power supply is used in a Category 9 test instrument then it does not have to comply with RoHS. The same can be said of battery chargers. These do not appear to be in any of the 10 WEEE categories but, when they are sold as accessories to other products, their status is the same as the equipment they are intended to charge. Therefore a charger for a mobile phone would be in scope, Category 3, whereas a charger for a portable test instrument is Category 9, and so outside scope. Gary Nevison, May 2007 Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) can be interpreted as a component or an accessory and so its status is the same as whatever it is attached to. While this may be appropriate when the UPS has been designed for a specific product such as when a UPS is incorporated into a medical analyzer, this approach may not be appropriate for general purpose UPSs, which could fit any product.