Managing our materials and substances
Nokia is an industry leader in substance management. Our main objective is that we know all the substances in our products, not just those that raise concerns, and that they are safe for people and the environment when used in the proper way.
Nokia is the first mobile phone manufacturer which, in close cooperation with its suppliers, has full material declaration for our mobile devices. This means we can respond swiftly if new concerns arise about substances we use.
Meeting health and environmental regulatory requirements is a basic requirement. It is our practice to use legal compliance not as a mere baseline but as a starting point from which to grow.
We follow the precautionary principle. Where we have reasonable grounds for concern over the possibility of severe or irreversible damage to health or the environment, we believe that lack of full scientific certainty should not be an obstacle to triggering actions to gather and assess additional data. That may lead us to voluntarily take steps, e.g. to substitute substances of concern with safer alternatives, where feasible alternatives are available.
We aspire to go beyond legislation and compliance, and proactively drive the development and efficient use of more sustainable materials. We promote innovative and sustainable material choices, and work on this in close collaboration with our suppliers.
We are actively researching the development and deployment of biomaterials. Biomaterials that are made of renewable natural resources can potentially reduce dependence on fossil fuel based raw materials and thus help minimize global warming, by decreasing CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions. Our focus is on the development of bio-based materials which do not compete with food industry. We've introduced fully renewable materials in the Nokia 3110 Evolve. 50 percent of the plastics in its cover are bioplastics, made from renewable sources. Since Nokia 3110 Evolve, we have continued to research and implement bio-plastics when those are a viable and optimal solution for a given part and product. We continue our research in this field and aim to broaden our implementation in years to come.
Nokia Substance List (NSL)
The Nokia Substance List identifies substances that we have banned, restricted, or targeted for reduction with the aim of phasing out their use in our products. The list is divided into two sections, Restriction in Force and Monitored Substances. We work together with our suppliers in investigating alternative materials and solutions that will help us fully eliminate restricted or monitored substances from our total product line. The Nokia Substance List will be updated annually. In addition, we will give interim updates on individual substance phase outs as needed in these pages.
See the Nokia Substance list (NSL) in full. (XLS file, 785 KB)
All new Nokia devices are RoHS compliant and free of PVC. Starting from 2010 all our products will also be free of brominated and chlorinated compounds and antimony trioxide as defined in Nokia Substance List.
About brominated and chlorinated compounds and antimony trioxide (restricted flame retardants) phase out
A couple of years back, Nokia made an ambitious commitment to phase out not only brominated flame retardants (BFR), but also other compounds of bromine, chlorine and antimony trioxide, as defined in Nokia Substance List (NSL), from all our new mobile devices and accessories. Considering the breadth of the substances to be phased out as well as our scale of operations, this project has demanded extensive R&D, actions and cooperation with our suppliers.
By driving this phase-out project, we have been doing pioneering work, and in collaboration with our suppliers helped clean out the industry from these substances, also for others who use same sources of components. Despite the economic downturn, we have maintained and remain committed to our original aim. On November 2008, we launched our first device free of brominated compounds, chlorinated flame retardants and antimony trioxide, ahead of schedule. At the end of year 2009, a total of 25 new Nokia models are free of these substances, based on NSL definitions.
Looking ahead, we are proud to say that our new mobile phones and accessories to be launched during 2010 are on track to become fully free of bromine, chlorine and antimony trioxide as defined in the Nokia Substance List. We are actively working on the remaining risks in order to ensure a fully compliant portfolio.
About other materials & substances phase out
Nokia has banned the use of Beryllium Oxide since 2004 in all new products. The restriction for use of all other Beryllium compounds has been in force since 2010 for all new products. Use of Phtalates in our products has been restricted since 2005. The ban includes 8 different Phtalates of which 6 are restricted based on EU regulation.
Working with suppliers on substance management
Our substance management requirements include the need to know, control and manage the material content of the components and parts supplied. We expect our suppliers to integrate environmental considerations in their design procedures and supply chain management.
Our suppliers must record the material content of products supplied to Nokia and make these records available to us on request. We check that they are complying with these requirements and other social and ethical standards through audits and inspections.
If we find a supplier is not complying, we ask them to take corrective action and check this has been done. We work with suppliers to help them make improvements, offering examples of best practice, training and other support. If a supplier were to refuse to address any of these issues we would be prepared to reconsider our business relationship.
We work together with selected suppliers to develop indicators of environmental performance for the components and materials in our devices. Involving suppliers in substance management means we can introduce new environmental requirements quickly.
Nokia Substance management timeline:
From time to time we get questions about certain substances or general principles in our substance management. We are addressing the frequently asked questions here.
About Nickel
All Nokia devices comply with strict global safety and quality standards. We use nickel at levels well within current legal and safety limits. Our policy is that all our new devices are free of nickel on the product surfaces.
Since as early as 2001, we have voluntarily complied with restrictions on the use of nickel as defined in the EU Directive 94/27/EC of 30 June 1994 amending the Directive 76/769/EEC. This directive was originally targeted for products where the materials often are in direct skin contact for longer periods of time, such as jewellery. In the future, the directive will cover mobile devices as well, and we have addressed this requirement in advance.
Over 40 of our recent devices, such as the popular Nokia 5800 XpressMusic and the Supernova series, come without nickel on the surface coatings or any underlayer, giving people with allergies lots of choice. The information about whether a product includes nickel or not can be found in the eco declaration of each individual product.
Some metal alloys used on product surfaces, such as stainless steel, inherently contain nickel, but standardized testing has shown that these do not cause nickel sensitivity in the general population. However, Nokia offers a wide range of models without stainless steel on their surfaces as well.
About RoHS Directive
RoHS stands for “the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment”. The European Union’s new legislation restricts the use of lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium and two flame retardants in all electric and electronics equipment. Although this regulation came into effect on 1 July 2006, Nokia introduced the first RoHS compliant product already in April 2005, over a year before the legislation came into force. Currently all Nokia products are RoHS compliant not only in Europe, but globally.
RoHS legislation in the future
Nokia’s follows the precautionary principle in its material management. The Nokia Substance List (NSL) expresses our view on the need for and application of the precautionary principle for the specific substances relevant to our business/industry.
We are continuously and proactively phasing out substances according to these principles and welcome further research of the environmental risks related to substances used in the ICT industry. The criteria and processes for new restrictions need to be clear and transparent for the industry to be prepared and to be able to act proactively. It is important to work together across our whole industry and suppliers to make this happen and gradually replace these materials with environmentally more friendly alternatives or new technologies. In line with the precautionary principle, Nokia favors voluntary initiatives by the industry, which is reflected in our publically available Nokia Substance List.
In addition, the following principles should be taken into consideration:
- Restriction criteria to be based on potential risk in the full product life cycle – focus should be on substances that are relevant for our industry
- Evaluation process well aligned with existing legislation
- Industry to be involved in the discussion about the processes and the practical implications
- For receiving CE marking on products, full material declaration should be driven forward as an alternative for compulsory testing. In any case, compliance with legislation should be easily verified.
It is important that the enforcement of the legislation is uniform throughout the EU. Market surveillance needs to be transparent and effective and it should be carried out together with industry parties.
To accelerate the implementation of key changes globally, further regulatory requirements may be needed. Nokia is actively contributing to the development of systematic criteria and processes for improved RoHS legislation. Nokia continues to support effective RoHS legislation to complement but not contradict with other legal requirements. Nokia also supports further restrictions for chlorinated and brominated compounds, as already committed to in our ambitious targets.
About REACH regulation
The EU regulation concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) has been in force since June 1st, 2007. Nokia's basic principle is that the use of chemicals in Nokia products and processes shall be safe to humans and the environment. Within REACH, Nokia has the role and responsibilities of a downstream user. We continuously assess the substances and their uses in Nokia products and production operations, and we are in active communications with our supply chain also regarding REACH and its implementation. Nokia devices and accessories do not contain substances included in the current EU REACH candidate list of “Substances of Very High Concern”, which REACH would require to be reported. However, we voluntarily give information on our substance management, including REACH-related requirements, in the Nokia Substance List which can be found from this page.
About Tantalum / Coltan
Nokia became aware of the potential link between mining of Tantalum and financing of the conflict in the DRC in 2001 and took action immediately.
Tantalum is a material used in many consumer electronics products. The mobile phone industry uses a very small amount of the world’s total supply of Tantalum. DRC is one of the places where Tantalum, or rather Coltan, one of the ores that it comes from is naturally found and mined. The country only accounts for a very small amount of the world’s supply of this material, but it can be found in the east of the country where there is conflict, leading to concerns that this Tantalum may be mined under conditions breaching human rights or sold to fund war and illegal activity.
As soon as we became aware of this issue we began requiring suppliers of capacitors used in our mobile phones to confirm they do not source this material from the conflict areas of DRC. This is checked on an ongoing basis, and also monitored via the Nokia Substance List 2010 requirements. The DRC provides a tiny amount of the world’s source of Tantalum. The vast majority of it is mined in other places around the world including Brazil, Canada, Russia, China and a number of other countries in Central Africa.
More information about our approach here.