- NEW YORK, NY-As increasing numbers of U.S. manufacturers in the commercial AV industry comply with the European Union's RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) directive, it seems more apparent that electronics producers here in the States are preparing for a similar compliance to become mandatory in the next couple of years. This is a smart move for manufacturers, who, in getting the jump on our lagging response to what should be a major concern, are creating more awareness of this issue in the U.S. as they build a more successful business abroad.
- One of the latest manufacturers to gain RoHS compliance is SoundTube Entertainment, who has achieved the standard with all its speakers.
- SoundTube also announced the approval of UL 1480 and 2043 to its CMi series products. In addition to the CM-EZ-II, SoundTube now delivers UL for plenum spaces on the CM500i and CM800i products.
- Wes Garrett, SoundTube international sales manager said, "Our deft engineering team worked diligently to update our production process to meet the RoHS standards."
- On the other half of the world, the RoHS directive in China took affect March 1. Unlike the EU RoHS, China RoHS requires labeling with a list of included potentially toxic or hazardous products-currently, there are no requirements for the exemption of those elements. The directive goes even further, impacting everyone from manufacturers to retailers, who can be penalized for non-compliance.
- The initiative to certify full compliance with the China RoHS, led by Biamp's Environmental and Regulatory Compliance Committee, took less than a year and ensures that Biamp customers can continue business without concern for service interruption. All of Biamp's products will now ship with marking and manual verbiage that comply with all of China's new RoHS laws. This ensures that product will not release any defined hazardous substances, including lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, or brominated fire retardants. As part of the rigorous testing process, Biamp has determined its products will not release any prohibited substances for at least 10 years, if at all.
- Additionally, packing materials for Biamp products will also be labeled for recyclability. This will be true of all products shipped to China and, eventually, of all Biamp products shipped worldwide.
- Biamp Systems...www.biamp.com
- SoundTube Entertainment... www.soundtube.com
