Practical aspects of the materials declaration process

The current paper describes a materials declaration study carried out by Apple and presents empirical results on the level of resources required to collect materials declarations from a diverse supply chain and the potential uncertainty associated with the data that are received. Results for resource requirements show that a substantial amount of resource time was devoted to follow up requests and supplier communications and that large suppliers were generally slower to respond than small suppliers. Results of materials composition testing show that although materials declaration data are sufficient for demonstrating product compliance, potential uncertainty may diminish their value in other OEM environmental management efforts. These results can prove useful in planning resource requirements and timing for materials declaration efforts and for asessing the utility of materials declaration data in an OEM's overall environmental management strategy. The study also confirmed that Apple products are in full compliance with all current environmental regulations.