Environmental Regulations:A Double-Edged Sword for Metal Finishers

摘要

Successfully facing regulatory pressures means turning challenges into opportunities. Servicing the automotive industry has been a challenge for surface finishers for many years now as the industry faces increasing loss of revenue while market share continues to erode to foreign competitors. This fierce competition has made cost cutting a way of life. Simultaneously, the increasing number and stringent nature of environmental regulations have placed an additional strain on the automotive industry as a whole and, in turn, on surface finishers serving the industry. Compliance with new regulations means additional costs and may also mean changes in procedure and equipment used. Historically speaking, the drivers for many of these regulations began in Europe and Asia with their new environmental directives aimed at the automotive (and electronics) industry. How does this affect metal finishers? Simply put: RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) restricts the content of certain toxic metals, including lead mercury, hexavalent chromium, cadmium, and certain organic compounds; and the ELV (End-of-Life Vehicle) Directive limits the amount of polluting metals that may be contained in vehicles to minimize the pollution hazards caused by the recycling of their components, primarily the hexavalent chromium content in automotive components.