The Toshiba Group is committed to the total eradication of certain chemical substances. In addition, the Toshiba Group is committed to decreasing other substances in products and to managing content levels, regardless of lack of full scientific certainty, in accordance with the precautionary principles outlined in the Rio Declaration (1992). This aims to ensure the safety of our products and to prevent release of environmentally harmful substances.

To aid the global effort seeking to reduce the harmful impact posed by polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs), Toshiba has committed to eliminate PVC and BFRs from external cases and plastic molding.

The environmentalist group Greenpeace advocates the global phase-out of PVC to reduce the threat posed by the dioxins produced as a by-product when manufacturing PVC. Today, PVC is widely used in the production of computer and electrical components.

BFRs are a chemical commonly applied to components within electronic devices to reduce the flammability of the product. Specifically in computers, BFRs are applied to printed circuit boards, to components such as connectors, to plastic covers, and to cables. There are several groups of BFRs, differentiated by their chemical properties (polybrominated diphenyl ether ( PBDE), polybrominated biphenyl (PBB), and brominated cyclohydrocarbons). Recently, environmental advocate groups and the public alike have expressed concern about the potential harmful effects of BFRs.

Currently, Toshiba does not use PVC in packing materials and has sourced PVC alternatives in the external casing of Toshiba brand laptop PCs. Toshiba also prohibits the use of PBDE and PBB subgroups (including DecaBDE) in all Toshiba brand laptop PCs, and uses printed wiring boards that are free of BFRs in some laptop PCs.

For more information, Toshiba Corporate: Management of chemical substances

For more information, Toshiba PC Company: PC models that use PVC/BFR alternatives

The RoHS Directive of the European Union (EU) banned the use of six substances, including lead, mercury and cadmium, in products placed on the EU market from July 2006. The Toshiba Group adopted a policy of not using these substances in products shipped from April 2005 in order to comply with the RoHS Directive.

In accordance with the Fourth Voluntary Environmental Plan launched in fiscal 2005, we intend to abolish the use of 15 substance groups, including ozone-depleting substances, tributyltins (TBTs) and polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), by fiscal 2010. In fiscal 2006, the second year, the proportion of sales of products not containing these 15 substance groups increased from 28 percent in the previous year to 48 percent.

For more information, Toshiba PC Company: RoHS compatible design

In addition to the substances for which there is a prohibition of use, Toshiba Group strictly controls the use of chemical substances based on their designation, such as reduction of use and control of use. In November 2006, a full-scale revision was made to the Toshiba Green Procurement Guidelines, implemented in 1999 and partly revised in 2003, to include 20 substance groups (ranked Class B, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) which are excluded from substances banned in the RoHS Directive) subject to reduction or replacement in order to reduce burdens on the environment, or collection and detoxification in closed systems to curb harm to the environment, in addition to the substances whose use is prohibited (34 Class A substance groups). We also investigate the content of 24 substance groups in compliance with Joint Industry Guide for Material Composition Declaration for Electronic Products when approving the procurement of new materials or determining requirements for the replacement of existing materials.

For more information, Toshiba Corporation: Toshiba Group Green Procurement Guidelines

For more information, Toshiba PC Company: Green Procurement

The new European law on chemicals, REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals), went into effect in June 2007. Its scope will be gradually extended in future. REACH requires manufacturers and importers to register and submit not only new chemical substances but also tens of thousands of existing chemical substances. To comply with the REACH Regulations, which still contain many uncertainties, we will need to adjust our in-house systems. The issues will have to be discussed by all related industries.

The Toshiba Group joined the Japan Article Management Promotion consortium (JAMP). This provides a practical means of orderly management and the smooth disclosure and transfer of information on chemical substances and other data contained in components and products throughout the supply chain. This will be beneficial to the whole industry for seamless compliance with REACH.