APC 2011 Annual Report Download - page 68

REGISTRATION DOCUMENT 2011 SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC66
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
2SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC’S COMMITMENT TOENVIRONMENTALPERFORMANCE
•the launch of the project aims to integrate substance management
within our information systems in order to anticipate the impact of
obsolescence on our offers and to automate the REACH reports
for our products, as well as to circulate information more quickly
to our customers.
Environmental information
The Green Premium eco-brand guarantees customers the
availability of environmental information relating to Schneider
Electric product offers such as the Product Environmental Profi le
(PEP) or the End-of-Life Instruction (EoLI).
As an integral part of the eco-design approach, the PEP program
provides customers with the environmental impact of products
during their life cycle according to the ISO14040 standard. This
program applies to all offers developed by Schneider Electric.
The analysis of each product’s environmental characteristics
looksat:
•the materials used;
•the presence of hazardous substances as defi ned by the RoHS
directive;
•the environmental certifi cation statute of the production site;
•the product’s recycling potential;
•11 environmental impacts of the product, such as the
consumption of raw materials and energy, the carbon footprint,
the damage to the ozone layer, the production of photochemical
ozone, the acidifi cation of the air, the production of dangerous
waste, the eutrophication of the water, and the toxicity of the air.
The majority of the Product Environmental Profi le (PEP) documents
in 2011 were established or made to conform to the requirements
of the PEPecopassport program, with reference to the ISO
14025 standard. Schneider Electric has actively participated in
the launch of this independent program that brings together the
professional unions of manufacturers in the electrical, electronic and
environmental engineering sectors. The PEPecopassport program
is a measure of rigour, reliability and transparency.
Schneider Electric also integrates product recycling into the design
of its products in order to promote recovery of end-of-life materials.
Schneider Electric has developed a design rules guide in order
to optimise end-of-life costs and the potential recycling rate of
itsproducts.
These practices led to the publication of a product recycling rate
and to recommendations to ensure end-of-life treatment that is
environmentally friendly. This information is available to clients in the
Product Environmental Profi le (PEP) documents.
These practices are equally applicable to the publication of
information and recommendations to facilitate recycling of subsets
or components stated in the WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic
Equipment) European directive. In effect, even though the vast
majority of Schneider Electric product offers do not fall under this
directive, Schneider Electric makes the End-Of-Life Instructions
information sheets available to its customers. This allows
customers to identify and locate the subsets or components so
that they are able to recycle them using suitable processes that are
environmentally friendly.
Compliance with WEEE and equivalent legislation
A number of political commitments and regulations address
the issue of waste from electrical products. One example is the
European Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive
(WEEE), which has been transposed in each Member State. Similar
regulations have been adopted or initiated in Japan, China, India,
and the United States.
The WEEE directive’s main objective is to increase the recovery
rate for the largest types of electrical waste, such as televisions,
refrigerators and lighting systems, as well as for short-lived IT and
telecommunication equipment. Industrial electrical and electronic
devices and electrical distribution equipment is only very marginally
concerned. Under the directive, the equipment manufacturer
is responsible for setting up and fi nancing dedicated solutions
to collect and process discarded equipment. The directive sets
minimum rates for recovery and recycling.
Schneider Electric is actively involved in a responsible approach even
though virtually none of its products are covered by thedirective.
As a responsible company, Schneider Electric must be able to
prove the existence of established end-of-life solutions. These must
be fi nanced and certifi ed for collecting, processing, and recycling
end-of-life products in a way that respects both human health and
the environment.
Carried out in close cooperation with all Group partners, the
approach is deployed at the national level in each host country.
This involves identifying, certifying, and in some cases organising
solutions for processing waste from electrical equipment, with the
application of the appropriate indicators.
Green Premium Eco-brand
More than 400 Product Environmental Profi le (PEP) documents
and more than 200 End-Of-Life Instructions (EoLI) were generated
in2011.
Linked to more than 75% of revenue taken for the RoHS compliant
offers and with the REACH information available, Schneider
Electric’s target was to consolidate this in 2011 with almost 64% of
global product sales made through Green Premium offers, based
on 2008 sales.
The Check a Product website was checked worldwide on
average 3,500 times per month and more than 6,000 reference
products were checked monthly for their RoHS and REACH
environmentalstatus.
The Schneider Electric Environment Marketing campaign will be
rolled out during 2012, promoting the Green Premium eco-brand
through the Schneider Electric electronic catalogue and through a
unique web portal “Check a Product Green Premium” for RoHS,
REACH, PEP, EoLI, and Battery Directive environmental information.
The reference year for the Green Premium indicator calculation will
be updated.
Green Plastic Program
This technologically innovative program aims to make plastic parts
healthier and more environmentally friendly throughout the product
life-cycle. In effect, plastic is present in almost all Schneider Electric
products and the amount of CO2 equivalents needed to produce
the plastic is estimated at 550,000 tonnes per year.