The European Union has adopted Directive 2002/95/EC on the restriction of certain hazardous substances (RoHS) with their publication in the Official Journal of the European Union on February 13, 2003. RoHS requires the substitution of various heavy metals (lead, mercury, cadmium and hexavalent chromium) and brominated flame retardants (polybrominated biphenyls [PBB] or polybrominated diphenyl ethers [PBDE]) in new electrical and electronic equipment put on the market from July 1, 2006.

The European Union also adopted Directive 2002/96/EC on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) with their publication in the Official Journal of the European Union on February 13, 2003. WEEE is for the prevention, reuse, recycling and recovery to reduce the disposal of waste from electrical and electronic equipment. Requirements for WEEE go into effect on August 13, 2005.

Westbase is committed to achieving full conformance to the RoHS and WEEE  Directives.

Westbase Products:- Our suppliers will be moving to RoHS compliant products by July 2006. Each of our suppliers has been asked to state when they will be shipping RoHS compliant products and to sign a declaration to this effect. A number of products fall under the WEEE Directive. The means by which the Government intends to implement this Directive have yet to be finalised and we are constantly monitoring progress in this area. Starting January 2006 we will take back WEEE free of charge when replacement product is purchased on a like for like basis

Where applicable, our products will be marked with the crossed out wheeled bin symbol. WEEE related information will be posted on our website as it becomes available.

We will provide information regarding the type and location of dangerous/ hazardous substances, materials and components for specific products as requested.