Environment a top effort for new NEMA chairman

Environmentally sound manufacturing immediately was named among top priorities for the new chairman of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), S&C Electric president and CEO, John Estey. Environmental issues for responsible manufacturing, along with workforce education and U.S. manufacturing competitiveness, have been among important topics at S&C, a Chicago-based manufacturer of electric power control, switch protection, and related control components. On Nov. 30, NEMA named Estey as the chairman of its Board of Governors, said to include executives of the world’s largest electrical manufacturers.

NEMA noted that it recently adopted a call to action that will push NEMA and its member companies to the forefront of the movement to control hazardous materials in products and to design products in a manner that will help the environment. NEMA’s call to action will establish global hazardous substance restrictions for virtually all relevant NEMA products, within the limits of technical achievability, and observing the need to ensure safety and performance, by July 1, 2014. By 2010, NEMA manufacturers will have met standards set forth for certain products by the European Union Directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS). NEMA says this call to action is one of its most ambitious policy undertakings in recent years, in addition to its promotion of energy efficiency and an upgrade of the nation’s electrical infrastructure.

“NEMA has long recognized the need for sound energy and environmental policies,” said Estey in a statement from NEMA. “What we are attempting to do is get ahead of those who would institute well intentioned, but ill-advised, scientifically unsound, and anti-competitive policies and practices.”

NEMA has 430 member companies that manufacture products used in the generation, transmission and distribution, control, and end-use of electricity. The association says U.S. production of electrical products sold worldwide exceeds $120 billion. In addition to its headquarters in Rosslyn, VA (Washington DC area), NEMA also has offices in Beijing, São Paulo, and Mexico City. www.nema.org

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