The increasing speed of obsolescence in electronics products has brought the problem of their disposal to the attention of national governments, such as the EU, and international NGOs, such as Greenpeace. The electronics industry is now conforming to integrated product-related environmental policies and extended responsibility for manufacturers, such as with RoHS, EuP, WEEE and REACH directives in the EU. After several years however many practical issues have emerged with the enforcement of related legislation. A lack of proper communication between the product designers and recyclers for example is hampering efforts to recycle electronic waste.
DMS business operations currently account for the majority of Delta’s revenue, they are not directly responsible for product recycling; however, Delta does manufacture products that are easily disassembled and recycled to meet customer requirements. As for the brand business, Delta currently recycles the solar modules produced by DelSolar. DelSolar has become a member of the nonprofit organization PV Cycle 38 which provides a recycling service for solar modules that have reached the end of their lifespan. If less than 30 to 40 solar modules are recovered for recycling, the collected modules are sent to the nearest collecting points and recycling facility after being disassembled or fixed so that the materials can be used in various products. But if there is a relatively large amount recovered, the solar modules are shipped directly to a recycling plant.
Delta ships a considerable quantity of products each year. While we have not been required to take direct responsibility for product recovery, we do understand that a failure to properly dispose of or recycle electronic waste products not only wastes resources and damages the environment but can also cause permanent harm to human health or the natural ecology. We hope the assessment can be used to set up a comprehensive internal eco-design system that will integrate lifecycle analysis and ideals more fully into the product design process. We believe that the most effective solution is to deal with the problem at its source. |
