Environmental Regulations Impose New Product Lifecycle Information Requirements

Abstract

In a global response to increasing health and environmental concerns, there has been a trend towards governments enacting legislation to encourage sustainable manufacturing where industry creates products that minimize environmental impact. This legislative trend seeks to shift the environmental responsibility of product manufacturing to the finished goods manufacturer. To meet this new responsibility, data relevant to the material composition of a product must flow unimpeded from the raw material producers to the final producers. Unfortunately, existing systems are ill-prepared to handle the new data requirements. For example, the European Union’s (EU) Energy Using Product (EuP) Directive will require that companies provide total energy used during a product’s lifecycle, including manufacturing and transportation energy. To meet these new requirements, new systems must be designed and implemented, or modifications made to existing data management systems. Because every law poses its own unique requirements on industry, it is not always clear what information will need to be collected and stored. This paper seeks to provide industry with a forward-looking view at new data exchange requirements needed within the manufacturing supply chain of the future. It surveys current and forthcoming environmental legislation including EU Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS), China RoHS, California RoHS, EU EuP, and the EU Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals Directive (REACH). The paper identifies the unique data requirements that will need to be incorporated in a products supply chain in order for companies to comply with each law.