※1Green Purchasing

To create environmentally-friendly products, we need to use parts and materials with low environmental impact.

In 1999, SII launched the Green Purchasing activities, in cooperation with the Development/Design, Quality Assurance and Procurement Divisions, to evaluate product quality and price as well as to purchase products with lower environmental impact.

Using the"SII Group Green Purchasing Standards", SII investigates suppliers' environmental management systems and inclusion/use of specified chemical substances in production material. We certify products satisfying all of the following requirements as SII Green Products:

・Supplier's environmental system meets SII Green Purchasing Standards.
・Production material does not include any prohibited chemical
substances.
・No prohibited chemical substances are used in manufacturing
product material.

In purchasing, we give a priority to products certified as SII Green Products.

In addition to production material, we also apply Green Purchasing to office equipment and supplies. Products with lower environmental impact are preferentially registered in an electronic purchasing system, enabling a purchaser to easily perform Green Purchasing.

※2Contained Hazardous Chemical Substance Management

In addition to the RoHS^※-regulated substances including lead, cadmium, hexavalent chromium and mercury, SII voluntarily specified polyvinyl chloride (PVC) as a chemical substance to be eliminated. Despite those efforts, the overall RoHS-regulated substance elimination was 95.2%. PVC also failed to achieve total elimination due to unstable quality of the substitute material.

However, we almost achieved the total elimination of these substances from electronic components incorporated into end products, while meeting customer requirements involving inclusion thresholds even stricter than the Directive's specifications.

Also, our large-format printers and network devices for the EU market, consisting of thousands of parts and components, achieved complete compliance with RoHs Directives. To accomplish this goal, we implemented engineering changes including using substitute parts or materials and revising substrate designs.

In addition, we started initiatives to respond to newly introduced chemical substances regulatory directives including REACH and PFOS Regulations.

※RoHS Directives (restriction of the use of certain Hazardous Substances) EU Directives that came into effect in February 2003. As of July 2006, the directives prohibit the sale of electrical and electronic equipment on the EU market that contains any of the following six substances: cadmium, hexavalent chromium, mercury, lead, PBBs (polybrominated biphenyls) and PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers).

※3Environmentally-Friendly Design

Based on the Design Guidelines and the Product Assessment Guidelines, SII designs products with low environmental impact over the entire course of their lifecycles. In addition to other related guidelines and standards, and in cooperation with each operating division by information exchanges, we strive to provide environmentally-friendly products that meet customer needs.

※4SII Green Products:
SEA1200VX X-Ray Fluorescent Analyzer

SII Nano Technology Inc.'s X-Ray Fluorescent Analyzer

SEA1200VX achieved drastic improvement in sensitivity and measurement efficiency by introducing "Vortex", our proprietary high counting rate X-ray fluorescent detector. This product is certified as SII Green Products based on lower power consumption because of its reduced measuring time; easily maintained detector and printed circuit board; non-inclusion of SII prohibited chemical substances; as well as manufacturing and transportation free from liquid nitrogen involving CO2 emissions.

The X-ray fluorescent analyzer enables speedy measuring without breaking test objects. It is used to respond to the EU RoHS Directives and to measure lead in toys as well as hazardous chemical substances in soil and food. By developing, manufacturing and offering an X-ray fluorescent analyzer, we support product quality assurance and management, and contribute to creating a safe environment.

Analysis Using SII Fluorescent Analyzer

In addition to the Green Purchasing Standards-based inspections and to insure non-inclusion of hazardous chemical substances in parts and components, SII prevents the use of chemical contaminants in manufacturing facilities by introducing SII fluorescent analyzers.

Award at the Annual Meeting for China Scientific Instrument Development

In March 2008, at the Annual Meeting for China Scientific Instrument Development, SEA1200VX was selected and awarded as the "Outstanding New Scientific Instrument" among scientific instruments released during 2006 and 2007. As the RoHS Directives has attracted increasing attention, the product's high resolution performance and sensitivity, as well as its liquid nitrogen-free feature, were highly evaluated.