China notifies WTO of draft GB on recyclability calculation requirements for household appliances

On February 12, the State Administration for Market Regulation of China notified a draft of a mandatory national standard (GB) entitled “Household and similar electrical appliances – Energy saving and environmental protection specification” to the WTO and started collecting comments. The deadline for submitting comments is 60 days from the date of notification. Although the proposed approval date has not yet been determined, the proposed effective date has been set at 36 months after the approval. The standard specifies the general principles, life cycle requirements, and product requirements for energy saving and environmental protection of household and similar electrical appliances. Specifically, the standard stipulate requirements for the treatment of waste generated restrictions on the chemicals used during the manufacturing stage, labeling requirements for the recycling stage, as well as the requirements for energy efficiency, water usage efficiency and restrictions on the use of hazardous substances for the product itself. It is important to note that the standard specifies the method for calculating the recyclability rate of a product, and electrical equipment manufacturers must calculate the recyclability rate of their products based on the calculation method.

NOTE:
On the same day, another draft, which mainly regulates safety requirements for household appliances, was notified to the WTO. See more details below:
China notifies WTO of draft GB specifying health safety specifications for household appliances

Application scope

The standard applies to the energy saving and environmental protection of household and similar electrical appliances at the production, installation and recycling stages thereof.

Household and similar electrical appliances are defined here as electrical appliances used by non-professionals in the home, residences, and similar places (such as shops, light industries and farms, etc.) and are powered by a rated voltage of single-phase AC power not exceeding 250V, or DC power/ battery not exceeding 480V.

Restrictions on chemicals

• At the manufacturing stage: HCFCs, 1,1,1-trichloroethane (methyl chloroform TCA), trifluoro-trichloroethane (CFC-113), carbon tetrachloride (CTC) should not be used as cleaning agents in the manufacturing process of electrical appliances. The content of VOC and specific volatile organic compounds in the cleaning agent should be in line with the limit requirements of GB 38508. In addition, five POPs, hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD), polychlorinated naphthalene (PCN), pentachlorophenol (PCP) and its salts and esters, decabromodiphenyl ether (DecaBDE) and short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs), should not be used in the manufacture of electrical appliances.
• Contained in products: Refrigerants and blowing agents containing perfluorocarbons (CFCs) are banned for electrical appliances.

Calculation method of the recyclability rate

Manufacturers should use the following method to calculate the recyclability rate for the products they produce. For the details, refer to the Annex B of the standard for details.

• Calculation formula
  • Product recyclability rate = the total mass of each part expected to be reused and recycled(kg)/ the total mass of the product(kg) × 100%

Note: The calculation includes parts related to the use of the product, excluding the packaging of the product.

• Calculation principles
  • The mass of parts requiring specific qualifications for processing, such as refrigerants containing CFCs and HCFCs, and parts with low reusability value, such as thermosetting plastics and foams, is not included in the numerator of the above calculation formula.
  • The mass of materials used for auxiliary functions such as sterilization and purification and whose specific ingredients cannot be identified is not be included in the numerator of the above calculation formula.
  • The mass of plastic parts with a mass of more than 25g or a surface are of more than 5×10m² and the material components not marked on the surface is not included in the numerator of the above calculation formula.

In addition, the mandatory national lists of energy efficiency and water usage efficiency for regulated electrical products are available in Annex A of the standard.

For the original text of the above-mentioned national standard draft, please refer to the following URL (in Simplified Chinese).
https://eping.wto.org/en/Search/Index?countryIds=C156&freeText=Household%20and%20similar%20electrical%20appliances&viewData=G%2FTBT%2FN%2FCHN%2F1813