The European Union's requirements for environmentally friendly or "green" design and manufacturing should be taken as a business opportunity rather than as a deterrence for the nation's robust electronics industry, a British academic said yesterday in Taipei.
"Eco-design is not just a technical issue ? it is a management and business issue to Taiwan," Martin Charter, a professor at the Center for Sustainable Design in the Surrey Institute of Art and Design, said in a forum on eco-innovation held by the British Trade and Culture Office.
The nation should work on linking the emerging issue of green design with its creativity and innovation to take early advantage of this rising market, Charter said.
Under the Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive to be implemented next year, EU member states are required by Aug. 13 next year to establish a complete collection mechanism for 10 kinds of electrical and electronics equipment.
This directive requires producers to take back large and small household appliances and IT and telecommunications equipment.
By Dec. 31, 2006, at the latest, a rate of separate collection of at least 4kg on average per inhabitant per year of electrical and electronic equipment waste from private households must be achieved.
The Restriction of Certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive, which will take effect in July 2006, aims to restrict the use of six hazardous substances, including lead and mercury, in manufacturing electrical and electronic equipment and to prevent these materials from being disposed of in landfills.
However, local manufacturers expressed puzzlement about the regulations, since many detailed standards remain undecided upon by the EU.
"Since many practical standards are pending so far, we have no choice but to follow the requirements put forth by our clients, which should be more strict than those to be finalized by the European Union," said a Wistron Corp (緯創) official present at the forum who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Roger Freeman, founder of Integrated Systems Management Ltd that manages the Hampshire WEEE De-manufacturing Project, admitted that many gray areas remain.
For instance, it's still unclear whether products using second-hand components or modules can be sold as new goods under the regulations.
"There are many issues to be processed in the next few months before implementation," Freeman said.
"We know the problems are there, but how to translate them into actual practice remains under debate," he said.
Freeman suggested that local manufacturers keep close watch on future developments.
The WEEE and RoHS directives could increase costs between 3 percent and 5 percent for branded electrical and electronics product vendors and raise producers' manufacturing costs from 5 percent to 10 percent, according to the semi-official Industrial Technology Research Institute.
The nation's contract laptop makers, already existing on a slim gross margin, would have to pass on rising costs to their clients, Wistron's official said.
"No one does money-losing business," the official said.
However, Rock Hsu (許勝雄), chairman of Kinpo Electronics Inc (金寶集團). and chairman of the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers Association (電電公會), said in a telephone interview that costs won't surge in the long term after replacement materials conforming to the standards enter mass production.
"[Green design] is a trend we cannot resist, and protection of the earth is also our responsibil-ity," he said.
Kinpo has started its commitment to green manufacturing standards in design and choice of raw materials, as well as demanding suppliers' cooperation in this regard, Hsu said.
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