Management of Hazardous Substances
LG Electronics has established and implements strict standards for managing hazardous substances.
Principle behind LG Electronics Hazardous Substance Management
In 2005, LG Electronics declared its intention not to produce products containing any of the six hazardous substances specified by the EU. Since then, it has established and currently adheres to strict regulations with regard to the management of hazardous substances and production. In addition, by launching the "LG Electronics Green Program," the company strictly manages its systems to ensure that the various components, raw materials, packing materials, and batteries in its products do not contain hazardous substances. The hazardous substances that have been banned from use by law or that LG Electronics has decided to phase out or reduce, due to their risks, are managed separately in the categories A1, A2, and B.
LG Electronics recognizes that existing legal requirements are not always enough to protect human health and the environment. Our basic decision-making approach regarding the use of certain substances is based on their scientifically proven impact on the environment and human health, also considering the technical and economical feasibility of the available alternatives. If the impact on the environment and human health is not scientifically proven, but there is enough doubt that there might be an adverse effect, LG Electronics will follow the Precautionary Principle as referred to in the 1992 Rio Declaration (UN Earth Summit).
Hazardous Substances for Management
Level A1 comprises six hazardous substances that are specified in the EU's RoHS regulations. This includes heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium and its chemical compounds, as well as bromine-based flame retardants such as PBB and PBDE.
Level A2 comprises substances that are either banned by various national or international legislation (other than the RoHS regulations), or substances that LG Electronics has decided to phase out due to the risk it poses to human health and the environment. These substances include chlorine compounds, asbestos, organic tin compounds, formaldehyde, Nickel, Arsenic, azo compounds, and other substances that could destroy the ozone such as Perfluorooctane Sulfonate, Pentachlorophenol and Ugilec 121, 141, DBBT.
Level B includes substances that must be monitored or reduced. They are PVC, BFR, Phthalates, beryllium, antimony, selenium, VOC and so on. See details of hazardous substances.
Thorough Management System for Hazardous Substances
LG Electronics operates a measurement system, whereby the content of hazardous substances is assessed right down to the last detail. The company's 19 LG production operations around the world use X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) equipment in order to examine whether or not any parts or products contain hazardous substances.
Hazardous Substance Analysis Lab
Staff working at the hazardous substance analysis lab continue to perform detailed analyses to identify any hazardous substances present and standardize them. Thanks to frequent monitoring during the production process, the center identifies those products and components that are likely to contain hazardous substances. In February 2005, this center was certified as an official analysis center by the UL (Underwriters Laboratories), an international organization for product safety testing and certification in the U.S. Its supreme capacity to precisely analyze hazardous substances was also acknowledged in May 2006 when it was awarded an official certificate from the Germany TÜV authority.
Compliance with EU REACH regulation
The REACH (Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemical) regulation is a European Community law which went into force in June 2007 and consolidates all of the existing EU regulations on chemical substances. The law requires the registration, evaluation, and authorization of all substances that are manufactured or imported into the EU depending on their weight and health risk.
In response, LG Electronics has established a step-by-step process and is committed to providing our customers with information about the chemicals in products, as required for compliance with REACH. For the first stage of the response, LG Electronics requires all relevant supplier to (pre)-register substances and preparations used in industrial (including engineering) processes and will also monitor and support (pre)-registration by our suppliers.
LG Electronics' obligation to provide SVHC information is only applicable if a substance included on the candidate list is present in an article in a concentration above 0.1% weight by weight, as per REACH. The SVHC "candidate list" can be updated at any time i.e. it is a "living list". As soon as a SVHC appears on the "candidate list", suppliers of articles containing the SVHC must forward information on the listed SVHC contained in the article (above a concentration of 0.1% weight by weight (w/w)) to article recipients. An updated version of the “candidate list” can be found in the ECHA website: http://echa.europa.eu
According to current information collected throughout the supply chain, most of our products and packaging do not contain SVHC included in the candidate list above a concentration of 0.1%, with the exception of a limited number of articles (mainly EPS packaging, cables and ceramic wool) that may contain DEHP, HBCDD, or Aluminosilicate RCF. Where technically and economically feasible, LG Electronics will strive for the phase-out of these substances.
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