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Precautionary Policy
ASUS recognizes the need for caution in using substances and materials with known, suspected or possible adverse impacts on human health and the environment. We are therefore committed to taking a precautionary approach in selecting and using such substances and materials.
ASUS complies with all mandated restrictions of hazardous substances. And, ASUS seeks to go beyond legislated mandates such that, even without full scientific certainty about a substance's impact on the environment and human health, if there is a threat of harm, the substance will be phased out (if currently used) or will be not selected for use in ASUS products nor in our manufacturing process.
ASUS takes a proactive approach in gathering information on potential adverse impacts of substances ¡V including gathering data from current scientific research, supply chain vendors, customer feedback, international treaties and conventions, legislation, non-governmental organizations, recyclers, and our own internal laboratory testing.
Substitution Principle
ASUS' Green Design Policy includes the substitution principle as follows:
"In phasing out hazardous or potentially hazardous substances, ASUS reviews all available information to ensure that the replacement substance is less hazardous, or ideally non-hazardous."
ASUS's Green Procurement and Management of Chemical Substances technical standard F2-013(E) specifies that chemicals are evaluated and purchased in a manner consistent with ASUS's substitution policy. This procedure is used to select alternative materials for eliminating and reducing hazardous substances. The same procedure is used for our green design work to comply with RoHS and for specifying using of materials that go beyond RoHS.
ASUS has developed and used for the past 2 years an IT platform for green material selection and verification. Through this IT system, component vendors are required to provide hazardous substances warranty letters, component composition information, and 3rd-party test reports prior to approval by ASUS. After ASUS' survey team reviews all available information to ensure that the replacement substance is ideally non-hazardous or less hazardous than the potentially phased-out, non-RoHS-compliant substance, the component candidate can be approved and used in ASUS products by our vendors.
Minimizing Toxic Dispersion
As mentioned above, careful chemical selection during the design process is a cornerstone of ASUS' Green Design Policy, and is shown by our current practice of phasing out hazardous and potentially hazardous substances. ASUS uses several strategies to minimize toxic dispersion such as toxic, persistent, carcinogenic and/or endocrine disrupting compounds, not only in the design phase but also in manufacturing:
o Careful inventory and storage control of any potentially hazardous chemicals used in manufacturing;
o Mandatory safety and health protective procedures, equipment, and training for employees working with hazardous chemicals;
o Spill control and containment procedures and training for facilities using hazardous chemicals;
o Quality control procedures to assure minimal toxicity in finished products that are shipped to customers; and
o Responsible recycling and disposal of spent hazardous and potentially hazardous chemicals.
Minimizing Material Intensity Policy
As part of ASUS' green procurement efforts, we seek to reduce the intensity of materials in manufacturing, transport related to manufacture and distribution of products, and use of materials in corporate offices. Wherever possible, we seek to use more durable, less toxic materials in our products and in the materials used in all aspects of our corporate operations. An aspect of this policy is energy reduction and conservation in our operations. Click HERE to read more about energy management in our operations. Click HERE to read more about energy reduction in our products.
Product Air Emissions Policy
ASUS seeks to mitigate known adverse air and noise emissions from the operation of its products. By restricting and eliminating the use of chemicals and materials of concern in the manufacturing phase, ASUS products have little air emissions of concern. As most of our products are laptops and various video display devices, these have very quiet operation with noise levels that do not come near exceeding occupational health standards for noise exposure. ASUS continuously monitors all aspects of environmental impact of its products and includes the impact on the user in its ongoing research and development.
Design for Product Durability
¡§Rock solid quality¡¨ is not just a corporate tag line but a core value that all ASUS products offer our customers. Part of designing products to maximize their usable life span is choosing components that are durable, replaceable, with good compatibility with other products and brands, and that hold up well under intense user demands.
Design for End of Life Policy
It is ASUS policy to design products to maximize usable life span. As well, we design our products for ease of reuse and refurbishment, and when they reach the end of a useful lifespan, to have them designed for ease of disassembly and reduced disassembly time.
Electromagnetic Radiation Policy
In order to protect the health and safety of the users of our products, ASUS has standards and procedures for electromagnetic interference (EMI) testing, to assure EMI limits are not exceeded. This testing includes internal standards for the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) for mobile phones is 1.4 W/kg (which is well below the FCC standard of 2.0 W/kg and the CE standard of 1.6W/kg).
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