6.5 Overview of EU legislation

Environmental issues and sustainability are addressed more and more in legislation. An overview of some of the most important and well known legislation is given below.

6.5.1 Construction Products Regulation (CPR)

The Construction Products Regulation (CPR) (European Commission, 2011b) determines how construction products should be CE marked as the “license to sell” on the European Market. The CE marking on construction products is a performance declaration; the requirements for which performance should be declared are called Basic Work Requirements, BWR. Requirements regarding environment and sustainability are BWR 3 and BWR 7.

6.5.2 Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH)

The Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (European Commission, 2006a) (REACH) Regulation is the main European Regulation regarding chemicals. The main objective of REACH is for all chemicals used in Europe to be registered and evaluated before use. The most harmful chemicals can only be used with official authorisation. In most cases, VELUX A/S will be considered a downstream user of chemicals, which means it is obliged to provide information about chemical substances on the so-called candidate list.

6.5.3 Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS)

The scope of the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (European Commission, 2011a) (RoHS) Directive is to regulate the use of six different chemicals in electrical and electronic equipment. VELUX electrical and electronic pro-ducts will be covered by the RoHS Directive of 22 July 2019.

6.5.4 Battery Directive

The scope of the Battery Directive (European Commission, 2006b) is to regulate the use of and disposal of batteries in the European Union. In practice, it means that manufacturers of batteries or products with batteries are responsible for the correct disposal of those batteries. Manufacturers are obliged to design products so that all batteries are labelled and can be disposed of separately. VELUX A/S is a member of battery collection schemes in EU countries and its products are covered by the Battery Directive.

6.5.5 Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)

The scope of the Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) (European Commission, 2012) is to prevent Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and to reduce waste by setting targets for collection, reuse and recycling. It obliges manufacturers of products containing electrical or electronic equipment to label all such components and be responsible for their correct disposal.

European Commission (2006a) Regulation 1907/2006/EC 18 December (2006) REACH.

European Commission (2006b) Directive 2006/66/EC 6 September (2006) Batteries.

European Commission (2011a) Directive 2011/65/EU 8 June 2011 RoHS.

European Commission (2011b) Regulation 305/2011/EU 9 March 2011 Construction Products.

European Commission (2012) Directive 2012/19/EU 4 July 2012 WEEE.