Sustainability and environmental aspects are becoming increasingly important for companies, not least because of continuously increasing legal requirements for product design. For example, new substances are continuously being identified and regulated as hazardous to health or the environment under the REACH regulation. Additional obligations such as reporting to the SCIP database since January 2021 and the revision of the RoHS Directive currently underway require constant monitoring of developments. In addition, the responsible sourcing of conflict minerals (gold, tantalum, tungsten and tin) as well as the carbon footprint of a product is becoming increasingly important. Especially for small and medium-sized companies, it is not easy to maintain an overview.
To ensure compliance with legal requirements, clear responsibilities and established processes are therefore all the more important. Otherwise, it can quickly happen that product requirements are overlooked or not implemented correctly. This can lead not only to a loss of reputation on the customer side, but also to severe penalties, up to and including a product recall.
In addition to a person who oversees and coordinates the area as a whole, it is crucial that employees in the various departments are trained and involved in the processes: This applies not only to product development, but also to purchasing, manufacturing and sales. Various aspects have to be taken into account, such as the expiry dates of RoHS exemptions used, the inclusion of new substances in the REACH SVHC list, cross-contamination within production, plausibility checks of documents received, and the calculation of the carbon footprint of alternative raw materials.
Clear responsibilities, the integration of compliance requirements into the individual departments, and the involvement of top management ensure that new requirements can be responded to at an early stage and that compliant products can be brought to market. We would be happy to support you in setting up your compliance processes. Please contact us at: contact@1cc-consulting.com.
