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What is
Korea 'RoHS'?
Act No. 6319 - Resource Recycling
On
April 2, 2007, the Act for
Resource Recycling of Electrical and Electronic Equipment and Vehicles
was adopted into law by the National Assembly of Korea. Many thanks to Jun-sik
Yun and In-sung Park of Eco-Frontier (www.ecofrontier.co.kr)for their very readable translation, which is provided above.
Electrical
and electronic equipment is defined as equipment or devices operated by
electric currents or electromagnetic fields.
The definition of vehicles is adopted from Article 2(1) of the Automobile Management Act.
Korea's equivalent of the RoHS, WEE and ELV directives adopts a
characteristically Eastern approach by including "design
for the environment" in its requirements. Implementation is
geared toward continuous improvement in product design and recycling
technology as they become technically possible and economically feasible.
The Eastern value of cooperation above individualism results in
goal-oriented regulation that reflects strong cooperation between government
and producers.
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The
Act contains five major
requirements for producers and importers: |
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Restrictions on the use of hazardous
substances, "such as heavy metals and flame retardants."
Restrictions will apply to electrical/ electronic equipment and
vehicles, but not to exports or research & development.
Exceptions will be granted when there are no substitutes or the
elimination of hazardous substances is extremely difficult.
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Improvement of materials and structure
in products
so that they are easy to recycle. Examples include using fewer
and more easily recyclable materials, designing products so they are
easier to dismantle, and making material composition information
available to recyclers. |
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Separate collection
of waste products at no cost to the person disposing of them.
Producers/importers of electrical/electronic equipment must
designate a collection depot and inform the sellers of their
products. Producers/importers of vehicles must contract with vehicle
recyclers for processing ELV. |
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Recycling rate:
Manufacturers/importers of electrical/electronic
equipment receive a Mandatory Recycling Rate that is proportionate
to their market
share. To fulfill this rate they can collect and recycle their waste
individually or join a Recycling Mutual Aid Association. |
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Producers/importers of vehicles receive an Annual Recycling Rate
which can be fulfilled by joining a Vehicle Recycling Association.
Vehicle recyclers are paid the difference between the cost of
recycling & disposing of ELV exceeds the value that can be recovered
from recycling ELV (known as exceeding costs). |
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Recycling Information Network is
presumably an online database that producers/importers of
electrical/electronic equipment and vehicles can use to
provide recyclers with information about material composition
and recycling methods for their products, "to the extent confidential business
information is not disclosed." |
Sellers
of electrical/electronic equipment must provide
free take-back of customer's old products and packaging materials
for new
products. Sellers are responsible for transporting collected wastes to a
collection depot/recycler (or they can reuse it themselves).
The
Act provides only the framework for holding producers and importers
responsible for their use of resources. The specifics are still to be
decided by the Ministry of Environment (MoE),
which will have an advisory Eco-Assurance Review Committee. Standards
concerning hazardous substances and improvements in materials and structure
will be decided jointly with the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy.
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The
Act's effective date of January 1, 2008 will not mean much until the following decisions
are issued by Presidential Decree, |
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Restrictions on the use of hazardous substances:
which hazardous substances to restrict and what the concentration
limits will be; which cases will
receive exemptions and how long the exemption will last; publication
of Analysis Methods of Hazardous Substances |
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Improvement of materials and structure:
publication of Technical Guidance on the Improvement of Material and Structure
for electrical/electronic equipment and Evaluation Methods of Recyclability
for vehicles |
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Recycling rates:
what the Mandatory Recycling Rate will be for various types of
electrical/electronic equipment and for individual producers/
importers; what the Annual Recycling Rate will be for vehicles and for
individual producers/importers |
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Recycling methods:
publication of Recycling
Methods and Standards by Product Categories for electrical/electronic equipment;
Recycling
Methods and Standards for vehicles; and the list of substances
causing climate change |
Korea's intent to follow
the precedent set by European RoHS as well as to participate in
establishing future international standards is reflected in Article 7, which
instructs the MoE to take "appropriate measures for
international cooperation," including mutual recognition
between countries.
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The Act provides
for four different types of recyclers to process end-of-life
vehicles: |
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Vehicle recyclers dismantle
vehicles and recycle its parts to the maximum extent possible; then
transfer "residues" to shredders |
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Vehicle shredding recyclers
recover metallic materials from the residues and shred the rest of
the dismantled vehicle; then transfer "shredder residues" to residue
recycler |
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Vehicle shredder residue recyclers
recover metallic materials from shredder residues; then recycle
and/or recover energy from the residues to the maximum extent
possible |
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Discarded gas recyclers segregate and store substances that cause climate change |
Compliance and enforcement
will be similar to that in the European Union. Producers/importers make
self-declaration of compliance with the
hazardous substance concentration limits. Self-declaration is also used for
the annual recycling rate of vehicles.
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The Act requires
the following reports to be filed (with the MoE unless specified
otherwise), |
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Electrical/electronic equipment: |
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Recycling
Requirement Implementation Plan -- submitted by the
producer/importer/mutual aid association and approved before
recycling begins |
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Recycling
Requirement Implementation Report -- submitted by the
producer/importer/recycling mutual aid association |
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Vehicles: |
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Performance Report
on the Recycling of ELV and Energy Recovery
-- submitted quarterly by the producer/importer/vehicle recycling association |
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Performance Report
-- submitted quarterly by vehicle recyclers (to the Ministry of
Construction & Transport) |
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Performance Report
-- submitted quarterly by vehicle shredding recyclers, vehicle
shredder residue recyclers, and discarded gas recyclers |
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Transport: |
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Manifest --
submitted by transportation carriers or recyclers when waste
electrical/electronic equipment or end-of-life vehicles are
transferred |
The Act provides for
posting required documents to an Operations Management Information System
in lieu of paper record keeping. Although the information system will be
established by the Moe, operation may be by a public corporation with
relevant expertise. The scope of this system, and whether required reports
may also be posted online, will not be clear until details are issued by
Presidential Decree. However, it is interesting that Korea envisions moving
documentation to an online database not unlike the one for IMDS.
Public officials may inspect business
places, facilities, equipment and documents at any time to verify compliance
with the Act. Notice is given seven days prior to the inspection, except
when the destruction of evidence is a concern. The Ministry of Commerce, Industry & Energy
will determine compliance with hazardous materials restrictions; the
Ministry of Construction & Transportation will determine compliance with the
annual
vehicle recycling rate; and the
MoE will determine all other compliance issues.
Korea
views Act No. 6319 as the logical expansion of her
Extended Producer Responsibility system
(EPR), and many of the provisions are the same. Both programs are
administered by the MoE who assigns each producer/importer a mandatory
recycling amount that he must pay to recycle, either individually or as part
of a mutual aid association. Failure to recycle the entire amount is met
with recycling dues assessed with a 30% surcharge of actual cost. If the
recycling dues are not paid within 30 days, an additional 5% penalty is
imposed.
However, unlike EPR, Act No. 6319 does NOT specify exemptions for SMEs (small and medium
enterprises). Although such exemptions could be written into a Presidential
Decree, they are not part of the Act as it now stands.
This summary of
Korea RoHS is designed to
provide you with an accurate, easy-to-understand overview of the
topic and
does not
constitute legal advice. The actual standard in the original language
should be reviewed and used for all business, legal, and product
compliance purposes.
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2007 -- All Rights Reserved
RSJ
Technical Consulting
PO Box 867705, Plano, Texas 75086
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