Beijing, China, September 25, 2006 - At the invitation of the Environmental Standardization Workgroup of National Electrical and Electronic Products and Systems of China, Dr. Antonio Giacomucci, country sustainability controller of ABB in Italy, gave a lecture on ABB's sophisticated environment management concepts and technologies at a special international symposium held in Beijing recently. More than 20 participants from the local standardization bodies and electrical and electronic producers attended the session.
The promulgation and implementation of the RoHS, WEEE and EuP Directives just demonstrates an overwhelming consensus among EU nations and industry groups on standardizing environmental aspects of electrical and electronic products and systems, which involves generic approaches for environment-conscious designs, measurement methods for hazardous substances, material declaration from suppliers, as well as technical specification and requirements for lowering environmental impacts across products' lifecycle. In response to these demands, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) took initiative to establish the Environmental Standardization for Electrical and Electronic Products and Systems (IEC/TC111) in October 2004. A member of the Environment-conscious Design Workgroup of the sub-commission, Dr. Antonio Giacomucci has rich experience in lifecycle assessment and product design for environmental benefits. His speech was well received by the participants.
In China, the Environmental Standardization Workgroup of National Electrical and Electronic Products and Systems was founded on August 20 in Beijing to mirror IEC/TC 111 and take on standardization tasks in relation to the RoHS and WEEE Directives.
"Thanks so much for Dr. Antonio's detailed introduction," said Ms. Fang Xiaoyan, secretary-general of the Environmental Standardization Workgroup of National Electrical and Electronic Products and Systems of China. "Environment-conscious design is still in its fledgling stage in China. As a result ABB's experience and expertise are of great value for us."
In ABB's environmental policy, three items are directly associated with environment design, including transferring eco-efficient technologies to developing countries, developing and marketing products and systems which are resource efficient and facilitate use of renewable energy sources, and declaring environmental performance of our core products by publishing environmental product declarations based on life-cycle assessment.
ABB developed the lifecycle assessment tool in the 1990s, which is designed to evaluate and improve the environmental performance of ABB products. Environmental product declarations have been produced for all ABB core products.
Electrical products, manufactured in a few weeks or months, may be used for ten-odd years. Therefore, 70% to 90% of their impact on environment during their lifecycle comes from their operation and use. ABB makes lifecycle assessment of each product early in the design phase, in an effort to evaluate and optimize the environment impact throughout the products' lifecycles. This not only improves customers' productivity, but also helps them minimize their activities' impact on environment.
All the participants showed great interest in ABB's environmental product declaration. "Environmental policy is an integral part of ABB's commitment to sustainability, which is built into our development strategy, business process and daily operation," noted Dr. Antonio. "The environmental product declaration is a third party certified tool that can be used to communicate the environmental performance of a product to customers. An environmental product declaration may include information about raw material acquisition, energy efficiency, content of materials and chemical substances, pollutant emissions to air, soil and water, waste generation, and the environmental impact associated with the product or service in question. It can also contain information about service and maintenance. You can get access to our environmental product declaration at www.abb.com."
ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impacts. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 107,000 people worldwide. ABB has a full range of business activities in China, including manufacturing, R&D, sales and service, with 10,000 employees, 25 joint venture and wholly owned companies, and an extensive sales and service network across 30 cities. To know more about ABB, visit www.abb.com.cn.