Efforts of Sumitomo Electric Group to Reduce Environmentally Hazardous Substances Used in Electronic Wire Products

Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. and Sumitomo (SEI) Electronic Wire, Inc., a Sumitomo Electric Group company, are actively working on restricting or banning the use of environmentally hazardous substances in products in compliance with ISO 14001, an internationally recognized environmental management standard, and other environmental regulations.

Sumitomo Electric sells electric wires for electronic/information equipment and electric wire products, while Sumitomo (SEI) Electronic Wire develops and manufactures electric wires and related products.

Regulations for restricting the use of chemical substances in electronic/information equipment have been tightened year by year in order to protect human health from these substances and mitigate their effects on the environment. The European Union (EU) adopted the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive in February 2003 to restrict the use of hazardous substances in electrical/electronic equipment. A revised version of the Directive (RoHS 2) was promulgated in July 2011. In June 2015, the revised RoHS 2 Directive added four phthalate esters* to the list of restricted substances. In advance of the stricter RoHS 2 Directive entering into effect in July 2019, the Sumitomo Electric Group implemented measures to prevent these four phthalate esters from being mixed into electric wires as impurities. Electric wires manufactured by Sumitomo (SEI) Electric Wire on and after January 1, 2015 comply with the RoHS 2 Directive.

Taking this opportunity, the Sumitomo Electric Group has updated its website informing you of the Group's efforts to comply with the applicable environmental regulations.

Web page describing the compliance of electronic wire products with regulations for controlling the use of substances of concern:

For the electric wires for electronic/information equipment subject to the RoHS Directive, the Sumitomo Electric Group has finished bringing them into compliance with the Directive at all wire manufacturing plants in Japan (Tochigi and Aomori), China (Suzhou), and Malaysia (Johor Bahru).

As the leading supplier and manufacturer of electric wires for electronic/information equipment, Sumitomo Electric and Sumitomo (SEI) Electric Wire continue to reinforce efforts to reduce environmentally hazardous substances contained in its products.

* The four phthalate esters are DEHP (di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate), DBP (di-n-butyl phthalate), BBP (butyl benzyl phthalate), and DIBP (di-isobutyl phthalate).