Due to constantly increasing requirements and the globalisation of the markets, a number of national and international requirements apply to our products. On the one hand, the legal requirements (e.g. the EU directives in the European Economic Area), but of course also the local or application-related laws must be considered. Only if all aspects are included in the product life cycle from the very beginning it can be guaranteed that all requirements can be met.
WIKA faces the challenge with a centrally and globally oriented team, in order to be able to implement constantly increasing requirements, but also to be able to react to customer wishes and enquiries.
Certified quality
The WIKA quality assurance management system has been certified in accordance with ISO 9001 since 1994. The high quality and safety standards of our company set standards and have been adopted by several states in their national standard systems.
WIKA Alexander Wiegand SE & Co. KG has established a comprehensive management system to ensure compliance with product-related environmental protection issues. Below are explanations of the most common topics.
1) REACH (Regulation (EC) no. 1907/2006)
As a manufacturer of monitoring and control equipment, we do not manufacture any substances/chemicals ourselves. The quantity of substances/chemicals which is required for the manufacture of our products does not exceed the limit of one tonne per year. Therefore, as a downstream user, we are released from the obligation to register. Based on Article 33 of the REACH directive, we are obligated to inform you about the substances used in our products: We hereby confirm that our products and packaging do not contain any substances from the candidate list in concentrations exceeding 0.1 % weight by weight; this is valid with the following exception:
Many of our products that contain metals, such as steel, aluminium or copper alloys, and in which certain electronic components are used may contain more than 0.1 % lead. Lead is listed as a substance of very high concern (SVHC) in the REACH directive (under CAS no. 7439-92-1, EC no. 231-100-4). If this or another SVHC is included in one of our products, we inform you in our delivery note.
2) EU directive RoHS (2011/65/EU, 2015/863/EU)
We have successfully introduced EU directive 2011/65/EU (RoHS) – with its delegated Directive (EU) 2015/863 – in our company and set up appropriate management. The electrical and electronic products fulfil the requirements, which we confirm in an EU declaration of conformity.
Mechanical products, such as pressure gauges or thermometers, are not subject to RoHS 2011/65/EU, meaning we cannot generate an EU declaration of conformity. Should you still need a confirmation that a mechanical product also complies with the substance limits of RoHS, then we can create this for you.
3) WEEE (2012/19/EU)
The WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directive aims to reduce waste in Europe. The strategy is to increase the re-use of materials.
We have successfully introduced the WEEE directive into our company and set up appropriate management. Therefore we are comprehensive and fully compliant with the WEEE.
Old WIKA devices can be returned to us at any time and we take care of the recycling. Simply contact us at [email protected].
4) Ship recycling (Regulation (EC) No. 1257/2013, RESOLUTION MEPC. 269(68))
The Hong Kong Convention was adopted by the International Maritime Organization in May 2009. This is an agreement for the worldwide improvement of environmentally friendly ship recycling. An IHM certificate (International Certificate on Inventory of Hazardous Materials) is required. The EU has adopted Regulation (EU) No. 1257/2013 to speed up the ratification of this agreement. Ship-owners are thus requested to carry a hazardous material inventory of all components on board.
Most of the listed materials are not present in WIKA products. You can request a corresponding material declaration from us.
5) Conflict minerals
The enactment of section 1502 of the US American Dodd-Frank Act commits listed US companies to provide proof of origin for the raw materials tantalum, gold, tungsten and tin and furthermore to put far-reaching auditing requirements for suppliers and material flows into practice. The aim is to make global supply chains transparent to avoid supporting armed conflicts.
We are not obligated to create this detailed report; however, we, at WIKA, want to support our customers in their reporting obligations. We have implemented processes to verify that our suppliers meet their duty of care. We rely on information provided to us and trust that our suppliers themselves do not purchase products and components from conflict regions. Our sources of supply consist of qualified and well-known suppliers, without exception, inspections of the supply chain are performed continuously.
