On Tuesday, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission held a public roundtable to discuss the agency's required rulemaking for how companies are supposed to “track and report” usage of conflict minerals. (Click here for the video of the two-hour meeting.) The SEC was given the job of rulemaking by Congress as a result of…
Producers and distributors of electrical and electronic equipment take notice: India is the latest country to enact RoHS and WEEE legislation. Hazardous substance and electronic waste legislation is here to stay and is expanding worldwide. RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substance) legislation was previously enacted in the European Union, Japan, China, Korea, and California. WEEE (Waste…
On September 18, the CEO of {complink 4929|Siemens AG} announced that it would be exiting the nuclear power business. “The chapter is closed for us,” group CEO Peter Loscher told Der Spiegel. “We will no longer be involved in managing the building or financing of nuclear plants.” And it's a big chapter. The global nuclear…
You know how it goes. A company plugs away, stays under the radar screen, and doesn't draw a lot of attention. And, then, bam! In one week, you can't seem to escape the news or Twitter feed. That's how I stumbled on a bunch of mixed reports coming out of Johnson Controls, a diversified technology…
I'm not sure if I'm ready to say business and politics shouldn't mix — I can't see how to avoid it. But the skirmish over Solyndra LLC’s bankruptcy is all about politics. If it had been more about business, the whole mess could have been avoided. For those of you not following the story, the…
ALPHARETTA, Ga. — The Electronic Components Industry Association (ECIA) announces the release of a new joint standard developed by both ECIA (representing the passive electronic components industry) and JEDEC – The Solid-State Technology Association. The standard designated as JS709 is entitled, “Low-Halogen” Passives and Solid-State Devices (Removal of BFR/CFR/PVC). This standard provides terms and definitions…
Even though the European Union is still chipping away at its 2020 targets for emissions reduction and energy efficiency, that hasn't stopped the trading bloc from setting goals for 40 years out. Among the ambitious plans on the table, the 27-nation EU is focusing on “cost-efficient ways to make the European economy more climate-friendly” and…
Here's an update on the situation with the California Green Chemistry Initiative’s Safer Consumer Product Alternatives regulation development process. At last week's Green Ribbon Science Panel meeting, the new director, Debbie Raphael, former co-chair of the Green Ribbon Science Panel, provided a near-term timeline and stated that her intention is to put a regulation in…
Until recently, sustainability and “greening” the supply chain largely meant keeping up with regional, national, and global regulations on carbon emissions, hazardous materials, and recycling. {complink 7426|Gartner Inc.}, though, is now seeing a major shift away from regulator-driven sustainability models to total energy efficiency priorities. During a Webinar this week, Hiranya Fernando, a Gartner senior…
SAN FRANCISCO & SAN JOSE, Calif. — KACO new energy, one of the world's largest solar inverter manufacturers with over 3 GW of PV inverters in the field to date, announces its U.S. manufacturing partnership with Sanmina-SCI Corporation (Nasdaq: SANM), a leading manufacturing solutions company making some of the world's most complex and valuable electronic…