ADC’s world headquarters in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, USA. More than one third of the 91-acre site is natural
wetland and wildlife habitat.

Environmental Compliance and Stewardship

ADC's Position

ADC has a long history of compliance with domestic U.S. and international environmental requirements. We are committed to pollution prevention, waste minimization and continuous improvement in all activities. It is our policy to integrate sound business practices that promote the protection and preservation of the environment and that are in accordance with all applicable laws.

Please see our Global Compliance with U.S. Law and Global Safety and Environmental Business Conduct Policies:

Global Compliance with U.S. Law (PDF, 26 KB)

Global Safety and Environmental Business Conduct (PDF, 39 KB)

Environmental Management Systems (EMS)

ADC facilities have implemented Environmental Management Systems (EMS).

The following ADC facilities have implemented EMSs that are ISO 14001 certified:

• Century Man – Equipment Branch in Shenzhen, China;
• ADC in San Jose, California – Certification
• ADC KRONE in Berkley Vale, Australia
• ADC KRONE in Berlin, Germany – Certification (English) | Certification (Deutsch)
• ADC KRONE in Brno, Czech Republic – Certification

These facilities are regularly reviewed by external assessors for compliance to ISO 14001. Please see ISO Certification for additional information.

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Minimization of Hazardous Substances in Products

ADC continues to seek solutions that will minimize the use of potentially hazardous substances in our products, and we continue to find ways to incorporate materials and components that reduce the environmental impact of our products and packaging.

We work with our supply chain partners to fully comply with applicable standards for the locations in which we do business, including the European Union Restrictions on Hazardous Substances Directive, China’s Administration on the Control of Pollution Caused by Electronic Information Products (China RoHS) and European Union Regulation No 1907/2006 on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH). For additional information about ADC suppliers, please see Supplier Diversity.

ADC’s Lead-free Initiative
Due to global environmental concerns, the need for lead-free solutions in electronic components and systems is receiving increasing attention. Many ADC product lines are already lead-free:

• InterReach Unison (PDF, 143 KB)
  
• InterReach Unison Accel (PDF, 141 KB)
  
• InterReach Fusion (PDF, 148 KB)
  
• InterReach Fusion Singlestar (PDF, 137 KB)
  
• InterReach Fusion Wideband
  
• FlexWave Focus (PDF, 132 KB)

We will continue to explore ways of transitioning our product lines to lead-free solder, while also addressing quality and reliability issues associated with that transition. Our customer service team will work with you to address your concerns and ensure that we continue to provide products that meet your needs.

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RoHS

The European Union (EU) Directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS) took effect on July 1, 2006 and required all member states to enact applicable regulations. RoHS is often referred to as the lead-free directive, but it also restricts the use of cadmium, hexavalent chromium, mercury, polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) from electrical and electronic products, and their component parts offered for sale into the member states of the EU. The majority of our products are RoHS compliant. Based on customer or product specification requirements, we are able to provide RoHS compliant products to the European Union ECM Zone, OEM, and Distributer Channels.

On April 1, 2008, the European Court of Justice annulled the DecaBDE exemption to the RoHS Directive. The majority of our products no longer contain DecaBDE. We intend to eliminate DecaBDE from any remaining products over the next few months. Please be assured that we have given the resolution of this question our highest priority. Our internal product teams are currently working with external suppliers as we strive to continue to offer RoHS compliant product. Your ADC representative will work with you to find a resolution to any questions you might have.

Please refer to the ADC Material Declaration Policy:

ADC Material Declaration Policy (PDF, 20 KB)

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China RoHS

China RoHS refers to the China Ministry of Information Industry Order No. 39, "Management Methods for Controlling Pollution by Electronic Information Products," and its associated standards (China RoHS). Many electronic information products still contain quantities of toxic or hazardous substances or elements such as lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyl, polybrominated diphenyl ether, etc., due to functional and technical needs. If these electronic information products are disposed of improperly after they have been discarded, they will not only pollute the environment, but will also result in a waste of resources. China RoHS promotes the control of pollution by electronic information products. Its goal is to limit or prohibit the use of these six hazardous substances or elements in research and development, design, production, sale, and import of electronic information products. China RoHS does not currently restrict the use of substances, but sets requirements on product marking and product substances information.

Today, we have the capability of running a product query for substances identified by China RoHS and providing appropriate product/packaging labels as well as China RoHS substance data information sheets.

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REACH

European Union Regulation No 1907/2006 on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) entered into force on 1st June 2007. Under REACH, companies operating in the EU face obligations as manufacturers, importers and downstream users. We do not import substances or preparations into the EU (EEA) that trigger registration requirements under REACH. Nonetheless, we are a producer/importer of articles. Generally, our articles do not intentionally release substances. If articles do intentionally release substances, additional registration requirements may be triggered under REACH.

We have launched a comprehensive REACH compliance program to ensure that all applicable REACH requirements are met for producers/importers of articles. We are currently working with our suppliers and require that all ADC suppliers understand their own obligations under REACH. This includes meeting all necessary requirements and providing us with information required by REACH. For safe-use information about ADC products, please refer to the REACH Safe Use Information (PDF, 46 KB). We are committed to working with our customers and supply chain around the world to help ensure compliance with the REACH regulation. As part of Our environmental compliance program, we monitor regulatory changes that have a potential impact on our products and actively participate in industry discussions regarding REACH.

Please refer to our Safe Use Instructions:

REACH Safe Use Information (PDF, 46 KB) (30 Dec 2009, Rev 1)

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Recycling and End-of-Life Management (WEEE)

The European Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), (2003/96/EC) defines rules for marking, handling, recycling and disposal of electronic equipment at the completion of its useful life. Manufacturers are financially accountable for product recycling costs based on the percent of products sold to European Union Member States.

Our take-back and recycling program in Europe meets the requirements of the European Union (EU) Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive. All of our products in EU countries can be returned to us at no cost to our customers or partners. We are working with trade associations, regulators, and regional organizations to effectively and efficiently implement regulations concerning electronic waste.

The WEEE Directive defines two types of markings that manufacturers must use:

This crossed-out wheeled bin marker as a sign of product compliance with the European WEEE Directive. Information to treatment installers is also required in order to identify the producer of the treated equipment [detailed information is available in CENELEC Standard EN 50 419].

Our European facilities have a recycling service contract with Hellmann Prozess Management GmbH & Co. KG., thus the European-wide disposal of our products is ensured. The Elektro-Altgeräte Register (EAR) [Used Electrical and Electronic Equipment Register] has granted the following registration number to ADC KRONE GmbH:

This registration is valid throughout the European Union. Please do not hesitate to contact us for state-specific questions.

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Successful Environmental Initiatives

Water

• We reduced overall water use by 27.5% for powder paint lines in our Shakopee, Minnesota facility by adjusting temperature controls, improving water recycling to minimize consumption of water, and regulating water chemistry levels
• We installed a high efficiency water recovery system at our Juarez, Mexico facility in 2004
• Water usage has been halved since the installation of water recovery tanks at our production facility in Berkeley Vale, Australia. Approximately 90% of this reduction has been through utilising the water run-off from the roof.

Energy

• We revised our North American sourcing methodologies and inter-facility logistics to reduce diesel fuel consumption by as much as 23,083 gallons per year.
• Skylights have been installed in Berkeley Vale, Australia to maximize light into our production facility. The large high bay lights are switched off on sunny days and after hours when machines are running without staff.
• We installed two high efficiency boilers at an efficiency of 93% at our Shakopee, Minnesota facility to minimize fuel consumption and emission of greenhouse gases.
• Our world headquarters building employs smart building technology to reduce heat and lighting at employee workstations, offices and conference rooms when no one is present.
• We re-lamped our Minnesota facilities with energy efficient fluorescent lighting and ballasts.

Conservation and Recycling

• We encourage recycling of paper and cardboard, cans, bottles, light bulbs, batteries, electronic scrap (including used computers and office equipment), and production metals. In 2007, all of our Minnesota facilities, as well as our Berlin, Germany facility recycled a total of 2,638 tons of metals (e.g., brass, iron, aluminum, copper).
• Our Shakopee, Minnesota and our Berlin, Germany facilities reclaim and reuse plastic scrap from molding operations and recycles production oils back to operating equipment. Our Shakopee Minnesota facility also recycles used process oil from part production to reduce our total oil consumption.
• We have reduced the amount of raw materials required for copper cable production while improving performance of our AirES Cable.
• We actively seek opportunities to use “green” products in new construction and remodeling projects. Wherever possible, we use carpet tiles with recycled backing, ceiling tiles made from recycled material, low VOC paint, and wood alternatives.
• We have initiated a pilot a cell phone recycling program at our United States-based facilities in 2009. One of the benefits of this initiative is that it will provide support for local nonprofit organizations that will benefit from the proceeds of this re-use and recycling program.

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Helping Our Customers Meet Their Green Goals

The continued thirst for energy is a recurring story in news headlines every day. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the data center where power consumption has doubled in the past five years and is expected to continue to rise in the coming years. ADC supports green data centers by designing and manufacturing solutions for passive airflow improvement that reduce cooling—and power—requirements. Learn more at our Green Data Center web site.

• Green Data Center
• Green Innovations

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Progress and Continued Improvement

Our Executive Management Team is actively engaged in leading ADC to continued improvement in the area of environmental compliance and stewardship. In 2008, we formed the Corporate Responsibility and Green Steering Committee, which strives to develop and evaluate processes to proactively manage and coordinate corporate responsibility and environmental sustainability efforts across all of our business units and functions. Additionally, our Environmental Working Council ensures that our products are compliant with all local environmental laws and regulations where we conduct business. All of our production facilities around the world continue to look for ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and our impact on global climate change.

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Contacts

We are committed to providing an exceptional customer experience globally. Our Customer Service Team is extremely knowledgeable and prepared to address your questions. When requesting environmental compliance information about ADC products, please provide catalog numbers for those products of interest where possible. All customer inquiries are logged and tracked to ensure that your needs are satisfied in a timely manner.

For EU ROHS-Related Questions: Please contact your local Customer Service representative.

For Questions Related to Other Environmental Compliance Laws or Concerns: Please send an email to env.compliance@adc.com.

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