Preliminary Announcement of the Amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Resource Circulation of Electrical and Electronic Equipment and Vehicles

The Korean Ministry of Environment announced on October 4, 2018, with 40 days of consideration period for comments, amendments to the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Resource Circulation of Electrical and Electronic Equipment and Vehicles (the “Act”).  This amendment expands the list of products subject to mandatory recycling, revises the classification of product group and the cost standard for recycling and collection, and adds four more harmful substances which have negative effects on human health and environment, to the Act’s list of hazardous substances subject to the restriction on use.  The fines imposed on offenders are differentiated by the number of offenses committed by the offender, the permitted maximum level of hazardous substance is revised in accordance with the international environmental standard, and new rule on recycling of electric vehicle batteries is being put in place.  Overall, the amendment improves and supplements the deficiencies that surfaced during the enforcement of the current System.

The summary of the amendments is as follows.

1. Expanding the list of electrical and electronic products subject to restrictions on the use of hazardous substances

The amendment adds 23 products*, including vending machines, to the existing list of electrical and electronic products subject to restrictions on the use of hazardous substances, and the lead and mercury level in these products are limited to set statutory standard.

*Vending machine, dehumidifier, toaster, electric kettle, electric water heater, electric frying pan, hair dryer, treadmill, surveillance camera, food drier, electric massager, footbath, sewing machine, video game machine, wireless router, scanner, electric pots for boiling medicine (herb extractor), spin-dryer

2. Adding four new substances to the list of hazardous substances subject to the restriction on the use

The four plastic plasticizers*, diethylhexyl phthalate(DEHP), butylbenzyl phthalate (BBP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP), which are harmful to human body and have adverse effect on the environment, have been added to the list of hazardous substances subject to restriction on use to reflect the international environmental standard of RoHS II (Directive 2015/862/EU).

*Plasticizers are additives that increase the elasticity of material for easy molding of hard plastics.

3. Exempted electrical and electronic products from restriction on the use of hazardous substances

Reflecting the relevant EU directive (RoHS) and the comments received from the industry, products used for national security, military equipment, large fixed industrial equipment, large fixed facilities, and medical equipment are now exempted from the Act’s restriction on the use of hazardous substances.

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