ENVIRONMENT

Printed Circuit Boards for Your PCB Challenges

As a global business, PCB Connect is responsible for understanding environmental challenges and being proactive in doing our part to conserve the global environment.

Our environmental work was introduced in 2007, and since then, we have been certified according to ISO 14001 in 2008. The ISO 14001 certification has led us to evaluate every aspect of our business and to challenge ourselves and our extended supply chain to make an impactful environmental changes.

We evaluate our work and plan for future improvements every year. Our environmental efforts and performance are documented in our annual environmental report, including information on our achievements, impact, and policies.

Our continuous improvement actions on the environmental aspect are based on the PDCA process. This involves our plans and the participation of our stakeholders and in certain events – with our customers.

1. Our Focus Areas and Targets

2. Continuous Improvement

3. Performance Execution

4. Evaluation and Compliance

Logistics & Environment

PCB Connects’ road to Sustainable Development includes minimizing the logistics impact on the environment. This indicates that we are serious in reducing the CO²emissions for our whole logistical process and our participation in the global protection of the environment.

As our response, we have engaged in various transport means and combined weight average shipments that targets the customer requirements, this resulted to an effective outcome and contributed to a lesser CO²emission.

Our supply chain played a big role in recycling and reducing waste packaging. Packaging codes are stamped per type of material for proper recycling and disposal. In this way, packaging materials will not be needed to return to our suppliers.

Overall partnership with our stakeholders created a big impact in achieving this goal.

REACH – Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals

REACH regulation (EC 1907/2006) came into force in June 2007. The adopted rule aims to protect the human health and the environment from the harmful effects of the chemicals used and released. It also pursues the reduction on animal testing. Since then, a significant outcome has been observed and followed worldwide.

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) administrates the lists of substances of concern (SVHC), the Annex XIV (Authorisation List) and Annex XVII (Restriction List) and manages the submission of data in the form of dossiers to provide guidance and assistance to industries through its website.

Authorities and ECHA’s scientific committees assess if the risks of substances can be managed and can be banned if unmanageable. They also decide to prohibit the use or make it subject to a prior authorisation.

PCB Connect Holding AB and its subsidiaries has analysed, investigated, and carried out our obligations and implemented vital activities to fulfil the requirements and to act on potential updates.

CONFLICT MINERALS – 3TG and the Extended Minerals Reporting

Conflict Minerals (3TG), Extended Minerals (Cobalt and Mica) are established by the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) organization aligned with the OECD Due Diligence Guidance through several reporting templates for industries affected in targeting to continually protect the environment, human health, and being socially responsible in sourcing by opposing any form of conflict and human rights violations globally.

Conflict Minerals focuses not only on the conflict DRC region and its surrounding countries but has extended its sourcing responsibility to affected regions or countries where its objectives are also observed.

One of these movements affected is the human rights violations on Forced labor, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (Public Law No. 117-78), known as the UFLPA. This enforcement on the prohibition of goods to enter the United States border, manufactured wholly or in part with forced labor from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, or Xinjiang in China. As long with the EU Council that adopted its position to ban products made with forced labour in the EU Market.

PCB Connect has performed its due diligence activities internally and in our supply chain to comply with the law. Our CMRT is available here. This report is updated monthly to ensure that no smelter is related to any of the violations determined by the rule.

ROHS – Restriction of Hazardous Substances

The increase of need, production, and use of electrical and electronic products affect also the risks posed to human health and the environment if harmful chemicals are unmanaged. This covers the usage and disposal of the chemicals.

The RoHS Directive restricts the use of ten (10) substances: lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP).

In connection with the RoHS is the WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) where it promotes the collection and recycling of the electrical and electronic equipment.

PCB Connect Holding AB and its subsidiaries has analysed, investigated, and carried out our obligations and implemented vital activities to fulfil the requirements and to act on potential updates.