Environmental Policies
Cognex strives to operate responsibly in regard to resource and energy conservation and the safe handling and disposal of hazardous materials.
Cognex is committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations, including the European Union's Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) and WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Directives. Cognex has formal RoHS and WEEE programs in place to reduce the use of hazardous substances in its manufacturing and service activities, and to ensure proper disposal and recycling of electrical and electronic equipment.
Cognex further enforces these efforts by working with a supply chain that is equally committed to these goals. In developing our manufacturing supply chain, Cognex considers environmental impact alongside other key factors such as quality, performance, and price.
It is important that our customers, suppliers and employees know that Cognex is committed to protecting and improving the environment for future generations.
Restriction of Hazardous Substance (RoHS) Compliance
The RoHS Directive restricts the use of hazardous materials in electrical and electronic equipment. Cognex has committed itself to achieving RoHS compliance by eliminating lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium and other specified hazardous substances from its products.
In some cases Cognex will be unable to convert certain products due to a lack of RoHS compliant components or because the products are at the end of their life cycle. In these cases, Cognex will recommend alternative products that will meet RoHS requirements and will assist customers in the development of transition plans. All Cognex products for which development programs started after July 2005 have been designed to be RoHS compliant.
California Proposition 65
Proposition 65, officially known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986. The State of California creates and updates annually a list of chemicals known by the State of California to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity (“Prop 65 List”). Prop 65 requires “clear and reasonable” warnings to be given if, in the course of doing business, a person knowingly and intentionally exposes an individual in California to a chemical on the Prop 65 List. Prop 65 also prohibits knowingly discharging or releasing a chemical on the Prop 65 List such that it is likely to, or will, enter any California drinking water source. Please see Cognex’s formal statement on California Proposition 65.
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Compliance
Cognex fully supports the implementation of the WEEE Directive, the aim of which is to reduce and recycle the increasing volume of WEEE disposed of in landfills.
Cognex products are designed and manufactured for long life, high reliability and have been evaluated against the criteria set forth in the WEEE Directive. Whenever possible, products will be repaired to reduce the environmental impact of waste electronics. In cases where repair is not feasible, Cognex will arrange with customers to take back a product for disposal. Cognex is registered in several European Union member states in accordance with the requirements of the WEEE legislation.
Customers in European Union member states that have Cognex products intended for disposal should contact Technical Support to obtain instructions.
Conflict Minerals Policy
Background
In 2010, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”) Section 1502 (“§ 1502”) requiring the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to issue rules specifically relating to the use of “Conflict Minerals” within manufactured products. Conflict Minerals are defined by the US Law as tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold (also known as the “3TGs”) and related derivatives originating from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (“DRC”) and adjoining countries (collectively, “DRC Region”). The SEC rules require any SEC registrant whose commercial products contain any 3TGs to determine whether the minerals originated from the DRC Region, and, if so, whether they are conflict free. By enacting this provision, Congress intends to further the humanitarian goal of ending the extremely violent conflict in the DRC Region, which has been partially financed by the exploitation and trade of Conflict Minerals originating in the DRC Region.
Commitment
Cognex Corporation (“Cognex”) is committed to complying with the § 1502 requirements by working with our supply chain partners and taking reasonable steps to ensure 3TGs are not sourced by Cognex or our supply chain partners in a way that would directly or indirectly benefit armed groups responsible for serious human rights abuses in the DRC Region.
It is the desire of Cognex to make responsible sourcing decisions for all of our 3TG products, including materials and components contained therein (collectively, “3TG Product”); however, due to the complexity of our supply chain and the number of suppliers involved, this is a process that will evolve over time. In the meantime, Cognex will take reasonable steps to map our 3TG Product, back to the smelter.
Expectations of Suppliers
Cognex expects our suppliers to partner with us and also make responsible sourcing decisions. We expect our suppliers, at a minimum, to comply with our requests to provide statements and perform due diligence about the source of any conflict minerals in their products which are provided to us. Cognex’s direct suppliers may have to require successive upstream suppliers to complete a Conflict Minerals survey, such as the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition-Global e-Sustainability Initiative (“EICC-GeSI) Conflict Minerals Reporting Template or similar, until the smelter is identified. Cognex is committed to take reasonable action for suppliers who are not conflict free and/or do not comply with our disclosure requests as outlined in this policy.
