Southern Compliance Association News Bulletin

	NEWS STORIES Below are the news stories that lie behind the headlines on Page 1. Many of them have been reproduced from other publications; and where this has been done there is an accreditation with a hyperlink to the original. Some of them have also been abbreviated here; and the hyperlink will give you access to the full details.

	Commission to postpone and amend electromagnetic fields legislation to protect MRI The European Commission has proposed to postpone for four years – until 30 April 2012 – the deadline for introducing legislation on workers' exposure to electromagnetic fields, which could have affected the use of technologies such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). This will allow enough time to prepare a substantive amendment to the Directive in order to take account of recent research findings on the possible impact of the exposure limits on MRI. "The Commission remains committed to the protection of the health and safety of workers. However, it was never the intention of this Directive to impede the practice of MRI. Obviously, the Commission recognises MRI as a technology offering clear benefits to patients, and continues to support MRI research financially", commented Vladimír Špidla, EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. "Postponement of the transposition will allow time to review the current Directive and amend those provisions which have been shown to be problematic by recent scientific studies. While this review is ongoing, the Commission recommends that Member States put the transposition of the current Directive on hold." View original story

	DEFRA publishes responses to their REACH enforcement proposals From the 13 March to 4 June 2007 Defra held a consultation to gather stakeholder views on proposals for the UK enforcement of REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of CHemicals). The UK is required to have an enforcement and penalties regime in place no later than 1 December 2008. The consultation considered who should carry out enforcement of the requirements of REACH ; the powers they would need (e.g. to obtain information, carry out inspections, collect evidence, issue enforcement notices etc); and the level and type of penalties for breaches of REACH requirements. The consultation document included a partial regulatory impact assessment. This summary paper aims to reflect the views offered, but inevitably it is not possible to describe all the responses in detail. A number of issues were made outside the scope of the consultation questions, but still in relation to the REACH Regulation and these have ALSO been summarised. View original story (pdf format)

	DEFRA invites participation on recycling targets for packaging for 2008 and thereafter The Packaging Directive sets minimum recycling and recovery rates for packaging waste for 2008, which then have to be sustained over the following years. The UK must achieve the Directive targets by 31 December 2008 and thereafter it will have to ensure that at least this level of recovery and recycling is sustained. More packaging will be recovered and recycled under proposals set out in a consultation published by environment minister Joan Ruddock this week. Joan Ruddock said: "Since the introduction of the UK Packaging Regulations packaging recycling has improved significantly, from just 27% in 1997 to over 57% last year. But there is much more to be done. Further cuts in packaging waste are an essential part of reducing our reliance on landfill and cutting greenhouse gas emissions." New business targets will come into effect in January 2008 to help the UK meet its obligations under the EU Packaging Directive. Higher targets are also proposed for 2009 and beyond to increase the level of recovery and recycling. After 2008 it is at the discretion of Member States to set targets beyond the minimum required by the directive and the UK has made clear that its aim is to continue to improve performance on packaging waste because of the environmental benefits this brings. Since the introduction of the UK Packaging Regulations in 1997, the level of packaging waste recovery has increased significantly but more can still be done. The Government sees an increase in the recovery of packaging waste as an essential part of its strategy, in particular, of meeting and exceeding landfill diversion targets, increasing the diversion of commercial waste from landfill, and increasing recycling and energy recovery from waste, using a mix of technologies; and in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Packaging Directive is implemented through a system of ‘producer responsibility. This mechanism encourages ‘producers’ to reduce packaging and consequently the cost of their obligations to contribute to the overall cost of recycling and recovering packaging waste. The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007 (the Regulations) translate the EU targets into a set of UK targets which reflect the UK packaging markets and waste arisings so that the UK, as a whole, meets the Directive targets. The consultation paper reviews the existing UK targets for 2008 to assess whether they will deliver the targets in the EC Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste that the UK has to meet by 31 December 2008. It also reviews the existing targets in place for 2009 and 2010 and proposes new targets up to 2012. The Consultation can be found on the website: www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/packaging-reg07/index.htm

	UK electronics recycling progress "way beyond expectations" Progress towards meeting European recycling commitments for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in the UK is moving "way beyond expectations", writes James Cartledge of letsrecycle.com. The UK has more collection sites than any other European country for old appliances, and is already thought to be achieving a better collection rate than the Irish, who started their system under the EU WEEE Directive in 2005. Collections of waste electronics are going well in the UK, finalising arrangements for the transfer of recycling evidence is the next step. The UK legislation - the WEEE Regulations - came fully into force on July 1 this year (see letsrecycle.com story @ http://www.letsrecycle.com/do/ecco.py/view_item?listid=37&listcatid=217&listitemid=8922). Government officials met with producer compliance schemes recently, ahead of the finalisation of arrangements for co-ordinating WEEE producer responsibility. The schemes, who are responsible for collecting and recycling WEEE on behalf of manufacturers and importers of new electrical goods, were told that the internet-based Settlement Centre will go live within the next few weeks. View original story from Letsrecycle.com

	New rules for non-hazardous waste The Landfill Directive is already bringing about improvements to the way we manage waste, including setting targets to the divert waste away from landfill.Any business that produces or treats waste before it goes to landfill may be affected since landfills will no longer be able to accept untreated wastes or liquid wastes. This will mean waste producers will have to ensure that alternative arrangements are made for the disposal of liquid wastes and ensure that solid, non-hazardous wastes are treated before they're disposed of. Targets have been set to reduce the amount of Biodegradable Municipal Waste (BMW) that can be deposited into landfill sites. Two new rules will apply to non hazardous waste from October 30 2007. Liquid wastes will be banned from landfill Waste must be treated before it can be landfilled This means now is the right time for waste producers and landfill operators to talk about how you’ll adapt to these new changes and be more responsible for your waste. The Environment Agency will be focusing their efforts on helping businesses take simple steps to improve the way their waste is managed. Using the link below you will find briefing notes, factsheets and guidance. The briefing notes tell you what you need to do to comply with the new rules. There are factsheets for any business producing waste, landfill operators and waste carriers. There are specific factsheets for those managing inert waste, municipal waste and contaminated soil. The guidance gives more detail on the liquid ban and treating non-hazardous wastes. View original story

	ELV agencies don’t communicate says ELVRA The launch of an association that aims to crack down on the number of illegal End of Life Vehicle (ELV) traders has been welcomed by Chris Davies, Liberal Democrat Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the North West of England. Entitled the End of Life Vehicle Recyclers Association (ELVRA), the organisation says it aims to tackle issues “close to the hearts of authorised treatment facilities (ATFs).” Membership of ELVRA costs £100 a year and is available to ATFs who are operating the online Certificate of Destruction (CoD) system or those who are aiming to do so. Aims of the association include banning illegal traders from advertising, to ensure only ATF license holders are collecting and transporting ELVs and to lobby the government to inform the public in their responsibilities. Reproduced from recyclingwasteworld.co.uk. View full article here

	Experts behind safety standards win world's highest honour for electrotechnology Geneva, Switzerland, – At a ceremony in Paris held on 26 October during the IEC's annual general meeting, Derek Johns, Don Mader and Per-Åke Svensson were given the prestigious IEC Lord Kelvin Award for 2007. This honour distinguishes experts who have made outstanding contributions to electrotechnical standardization. Johns runs his own electrical consultancy business in Christchurch, New Zealand and specializes in the areas of safety, electromagnetic compatibility and power quality as they relate to electrical appliances. Since 1994 he has been Chairman of IEC Technical Committee 61, Safety of household and similar electrical appliances. Since its creation in 1994, the Lord Kelvin Award has become a landmark within the global electrotechnical community. It takes its name from the famous British scientist and engineer who achieved celebrity by successfully laying the first commercial telegraph cable across the Atlantic ocean and who played a major role in the founding of the IEC in 1906, becoming its first president.

	WEEE compliance schemes urged to transfer members Wastecare -one of the producer compliance schemes being urged by REPIC to hand over its surplus of WEEE recycling evidence to meet the shortfall of others - has proposed a "mirror approach" instead. The Leeds-based company was one of around 30 schemes approached by REPIC last month to hand over waste electronics collected from their sites (see letsrecycle.com story @ http://www.letsrecycle.com/do/ecco.py/view_item?listid=37&listcatid=315&listitemid=9220). REPIC has a large member obligation and is keen to collect evidence to meet their requirements. However, Wastecare has suggested a "much simpler" system in which companies with insufficient evidence hand over their surplus members instead. Reproduced from Letsrecycle.com. View full article here.

	Logistics firm calls for review of hazardous WEEE rules Red tape concerning the transport of hazardous waste means the economics of recycling electrical items like fridges, televisions and fluorescent lamps "don't add up", logistics firm DHL has said. The company which also runs one of the "big five" compliance schemes arranging recycling on behalf of electronics producers in the UK, said the regulations prevent it using the most economic and environmentally-friendly methods for collecting old appliances for recycling. And, it believes the "disproportionate" costs might mean electrical items are not recycled, and remain in the waste stream. It is in talks with the Environment Agency in the hope it can persuade the regulator to review regulations regarding hazardous waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) - which includes old-style CRT televisions, computer monitors, fridges and gas discharge lamps. Reproduced from Letsrecycle.com. View full article here

	Reclassifying incinerators "sensible option" says MEP MEPs "made a mess" of their first vote on whether to reclassify the most efficient incinerators as recovery plants, rather than disposal facilities within European law. That was the opinion of Dr Caroline Jackson, the MEP leading the EU Parliament's negotiations of the successor to the 1975 Waste Framework Directive, addressing the European waste industry on Friday. Reproduced from letsrecycle.com. View full article here.

	The road from landfilling to recycling: common destination, different routes The European Environment Agency's new publication presents new country factsheets on waste policies and trends across the EU-25, and summarises some patterns in approaches to waste management that are highlighted by the factsheets. The EEA and its Topic Centre on Resource and Waste Management has carried out a survey of municipal waste policies and trends across the EU-25, and has consolidated the results into one easily-referenced source: a set of 25 country factsheets, freely available at http://waste.eionet.europa.eu/etcwmf/publications/factsheet. View EEA brochure (pdf format)

	QinetiQ's Electromagnetic EMC Group launches mobile test facility QinetiQ's EMC Group is enhancing its world leading mobile EMC test capability for providing on site EMC evaluation and testing for all vehicle platforms and fixed installations. Most significantly, its microwave instrumentation has been updated to provide an 18-40GHz capability for the evaluation of susceptibility and measurement of attenuation. This large, air conditioned, mobile instrumentation unit can be positioned on customer sites to provide a self-contained working environment for measurement and all on-site processing, ensuring fast turn around times. The capability is backed by over 50 years of EMC expertise in the development of novel frequency and time domain measurement techniques. The service is available for both military and civilian work programmes. View full Press Release here.

	Acquisitions expand both environmental services and wireless expertise. Intertek Group has acquired Ageus Solutions, a company that provides global environmental compliance consulting, technology services and product stewardship to the electronics and other industries. Ageus helps clients facilitate corporate and product compliance with the myriad of global regulations related to the environment;and is one of the leading global REACH, EU RoHS, EU WEEE, China RoHS and Japan Green service providers. Intertek Executive Vice President, Mark Loughead, said: 'Ageus Solutions significantly expands and compliments existing Intertek expertise and value-added services in areas such as REACH and RoHS. Our customers will greatly benefit from the addition of Ageus Solutions to our offering, on a global basis'. Intertek and Ageus Solutions provide comprehensive REACH services to clients including on-call consulting services integrated to all levels and sizes of business. It has also been announced that Intertek Group has acquired Product Quality Partners, a leader in the testing of wireless devices and applications for interoperability and carrier network compatibility.QP is recognised as a leader in the testing of wireless devices and applications for interoperability and carrier network compatibility. QP provides its specialised services to the world's leading wireless/mobile application providers, network carriers, and handset and accessory manufacturers. These announcements were originally published on Electronicstalk http://www.electronicstalk.com/

	Testing company receives new accreditation Tin Technology has been accredited by UKAS in accordance with ISO/IEC17025:2005. "Tin Technology began developing methods for RoHS testing in 2004 and at an early stage we realised that accreditation to ISO/IEC17025 would be required as a cornerstone to our developing long-term relationships with commercial organisations and with the RoHS policing authorities across Europe", Tin Technology's Group Quality Manager, Dr Paul Cusack said "In particular, XRF has been seen to be a technique that requires a high level of operator skill to obtain accuracy and consistency". "UKAS accreditation shows us to be competent in our laboratory quality management systems and in our testing procedures and the results offer greater reliability to our customers". The testing regime works to the guidelines in the RoHS Enforcement Guidance document issued by the EU-RoHS Enforcement Authorities Informal Network [RoHS Enforcement Giudance document. (pdf format)] and takes a risk-based approach to the sampling of parts to be tested. The current scope of the ISO17025 accreditation covers tests in support of the RoHS and WEEE Directives but there are plans to expand the accreditation into new areas. It is hoped that by 2008 this will include corrosion analysis, fire testing and further chemical analytical techniques. This article was originally published on Electronicstalk http://www.electronicstalk.com/

	Software tool tests EMI precompliance R and S ES-Scan from Rohde and Schwarz is a cost-effective Windows software tool for EMI precompliance measurements. Used in conjunction with the R and S ESPI3 and ESPI7 test receivers, it enables EMI tests on products starting at an early stage of development. Any design modifications that may be necessary can thus be performed early, doing away with costly reworking of the finished product. The system's user-friendliness benefits users who only occasionally perform EMC tests, as well as EMC professionals in test labs.The software performs EMI measurements in line with commercial EMC standards. Preconfigured test setups make it easy to work with R and S ES-Scan. The software automatically sets all parameters required for measurements in accordance with the EMC standard selected by the user. These features combine to yield fast data analysis. PLUS - WiMAX tester boosts measurement speeds The R and S CMW270 WiMAX tester combines signal generation and signal analysis in a single box The measurement speed of the new R and S CMW270 WiMAX tester from Rohde and Schwarz is up to ten times higher than that of existing test solutions. This ensures maximum throughput in the production of WiMAX chipsets and mobile stations. Measurement accuracy has also been optimised with regard to stability and linearity of the measurements to provide utmost repeatability. Further benefits are the low purchase price, the flexible upgradeability, and the self-test functionality, which lower the operating costs; and it covers the frequency range from 100MHz to 6GHz. The R and S CMW270 thus supports all RF profiles defined by the WiMAX Forum This article was originally published on Electronicstalk http://www.electronicstalk.com/

	System eases environmental compliance Embedding EcoDesign into the product design process provides an effective framework for managing compliance with the ever increasing list of environmental regulatory requirements. Customer expectations for supplier environmental performance are increasingly being translated into green procurement policies. To provide medical device manufacturers with a practical and cost-effective approach, Environ released the EcoDesign Best Practice Club for medical devices at the Electro-Medical Devices: Regulations and Standards Conference in London. The club enables companies to integrate best practice EcoDesign and product stewardship procedures into their new product design processes and achieve compliance with the IEC60601-1-9 standard. This article was originally published on Electronicstalk http://www.electronicstalk.com/