Green Products and Innovation
Chemical Substance Management
Our R&D, production, and quality assurance teams can through the “Green Parts Aggregations & Reporting System (GPARS)” platform to stay up-to-date on current standards for our products and take necessary control measures. All products shipped from suppliers must meet USI’s Standards for Green Environmental Protection Products and Chemical Management Process request. And provide parts composition table, test report, declaration of compliance and Safety Data Sheet (SDS) etc., and can only be used after being reviewed by USI.
We follow the IECQ QC080000 Hazardous Substances Process Management System Standard, and establish green parts/material management and control procedures to achieve products that meet international and customer standards for no hazardous substances.
USI supplier must confirm all provided components, non-BOM and packaging materials, and report back to USI via GPARS or Questionnaire methods for any containing hazardous substances. The main management requirements are as follows:
- Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive mainly regulates the material and technical standards of electronic and electrical products, requiring that the use of lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, PBB, PBDE, DEHP, BBP, DBP, and DIBP in electronic products is prohibited in order to achieve environmental and human health the purpose of protection.
- Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) is a statutory ordinance that compulsory registration, evaluation, permitting, and monitoring of chemicals entering the EU market. The bill raises the quality requirements and entry barriers for products from different countries and regions to enter the EU.
- For the candidate list of Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) in REACH, suppliers must confirm all provided materials for any SVHC substances at/or above the 0.1% weight by weight (w/w) concentration and ban the use of Annex XVII list of dangerous substances.
- For current SVHC candidate list, please visit ECHA: https://echa.europa.eu/candidate-list-table
- For current Annex XVII list, please visit ECHA: https://echa.europa.eu/substances-restricted-under-reach
- California Proposition 65, officially known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986. The proposition protects the state's drinking water sources from being contaminated with chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm, and requires businesses to inform Californians about exposures to such chemicals.
- For current Proposition 65 list, please visit OEHHA: https://oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65/proposition-65-list
- The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is a U.S. law that was implemented by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1976. The law regulates the introduction of new or existing chemicals. The main goal is to evaluate and supervise new commercial chemicals before they enter the market, in order to regulate the chemicals that existed in 1976 and pose unreasonable risks to health or the environment, and to regulate the distribution and use of these chemicals.
- TSCA prohibits the production or import of chemicals that are not on the TSCA list or subject to exemptions. Chemicals listed in TSCA are called Existing Chemicals, while chemicals not listed are called new chemicals. Manufacturers must submit a pre-manufacturing notice to the EPA before manufacturing or importing new chemicals for commercial use.
- For current TSCA control list, please visit TSCA:https://www.epa.gov/chemicals-under-tsca
In addition, the partial list of banned substances and requirements, please refer to the attached table:
USI designs green products that meet global regulations based on the four aspects of Green Product Eco-design and introduced a professional green value chain management platform Green Parts Aggregations & Reporting System and Green Parts (GP) database to manage the materials we use in our products and meet Hazardous Substance Free (HSF), RoHS, REACH, WEEE and USI Green Environmental Protection Products Requirements. For substances without feasible substitutes at this stage, the Company has also formulated a Banned Substance Elimination Plan(1~3).
The trend toward sustainable green products is inevitable. Industries could face upcoming challenges only by establishing a long-lasting green supply chain. USI integrates upstream and downstream partners to generate maximum environmental benefits from the entire production process, including product design, material procurement, manufacturing, transportation, packing, selling, and product recycling through a comprehensive and transparent management system. The systematic management of our global green product supply chain, strengthen cooperation with supply chain partners, and achieve a green supply chain.
GPARS System:
Note:
1. Ban the use of the three substances Indium Phosphide, Nickel Sulfate, and Nickel Amino Sulfate from 01/01/2023
2. Tetrabromobisphenol-A and Medium-chain Chlorinated paraffins the threshold below 1,000 ppm after 01/01/2023, and ban their use according to the EU announcement date
3. According France's Regulatory announcement date to banning use of mineral oil in packaging items and documents
- Mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH) (From 1 to 7 aromatic cycles)
- The threshold below 1% after 01/01/2023
- The threshold below 0.1% after 01/01/2025
- Mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH) (From 3 to 7 aromatic cycles)
- The threshold below 0.0001% after 01/01/2025
- Mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) (From 16 to 35 carbon atoms)
- The threshold below 0.1% after 01/01/2025
We developed our Chemical Management Procedure in line with the UN Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM), so chemicals are controlled and used in ways that minimize adverse impacts on the environment and human health. The key to our Procedure is a comprehensive review of substances and all applicable chemical regulations and use restrictions. We grade chemicals according to environmental and safety risks and constantly update them into our database. As part of source control, chemicals must be checked against the database, reviewed, and filed before they can be procured and subsequently introduced into our manufacturing process. For the transportation, loading and unloading, storage, handling, labeling, use, pollutant management and emergency measures of chemicals, relevant operators are required to undergo corresponding pre-job and regular training, and their related records must also be kept and managed.
Chemical Safety Management Process: