Ceci est une version HTML d'une pièce jointe de la demande d'accès à l'information 'Lobby meetings/correspondence on Plastics and Circular Economy'.




Ref. Ares(2020)734447 - 05/02/2020
Ref. Ares(2020)2498329 - 12/05/2020
Ref. Ares(2020)734447 - 05/02/2020
Ref. Ares(2020)734447 - 05/02/2020
Ref. Ares(2020)2498329 - 12/05/2020
Test & Measurement Coalition - Circular Economy 
January 2020 
 
Introduction to the T&M Coalition 
The Test & Measurement Coalition represents an ad-hoc group of companies active in producing test & 
measurement industrial type products. The Coalition includes leading companies in the sector including 
Agilent Technologies, Fluke Corporation, Keithley Instruments, Keysight Technologies, National 
Instruments, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Tektronix. We estimate the coalition membership represents 
over 60% of the global production of industrial test and measurement products and other industrial 
equipment including chemical analysers.  
Products include a wide range of sophisticated electronic instruments such as signal generators, logic 
analysers, oscilloscopes, spectrum analysers, digital multimeters, electron microscopes, chemical and 
biological analysers, complex chromatography systems and their detectors, etc. The instruments are used 
in Research, Quality Control and Testing laboratories (including field testing) in Universities, Manufacturing 
facilities and by Governmental Agencies (for conformance verification and environmental testing). They 
are essential to the good functioning of electronic communications networks, heavy industrial processes 
such as steel manufacturing, the testing of vehicles for compliance with emissions standards, and the 
monitoring of complex and critical systems of all types. 
The whole of the monitoring and control category of equipment represents by weight 1.8% of the total 
Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) put on the EU market and 0.7% of the total Waste EEE (WEEE) 
collected in the EU (EU official figures, Eurostat 2016.) Industrial Test & Measurement instruments, a 
subset of monitoring and control category, therefore only represent a fraction of these values: an 
insignificant contribution to the waste stream as compared to other EEE categories. 
 
 
Logic of the Circular Economy  
The aim of the industrial sustainability transition is to move in a strategic shift from a linear (“take, make, 
dispose”)
 to a circular economic model (“reduce, reuse and recycle”), in which consumption of scarce 
resources is limited and negative climate and environmental externalities are reduced as much as possible, 
at all stages of the value chain.  A circular economy favours activities that preserve value in the form of 
energy, labour and materials. This means designing for long-lasting use, reuse, remanufacturing, and 
recycling to keep products, components, and materials circulating in the economy
.  
 
 

 




 
Circular Economy model  
(Ellen MacArthur Foundation 2013 – adapted from Cradle to Cradle Design Protocol by Braungart & McDonough) 
Circular Economy model for Test & Measurement instruments  
 
The core loops of the Circular Economy model for technical materials are: maintain, reuse, refurbish and 
recycle. How are they translated for industrial test & measurement instruments? 
In regards to the Circular Economy principles, industrial test & measurement instruments are very 
different from high-volume consumer products which are frequently re-designed to follow consumer 
trends (every 1.5 year on average). Industrial test & measurements instruments are intentionally 
designed for long useful lifespans with high reliability. Test and measurement instruments (category 9 
under the RoHS Directive) are designed: exclusively for professional and industrial use; to meet high 
performance requirements in critical applications; and last up to 40 years (10 years typical first life). 
Redesign is not frequent and happens every 7 years on average after which they typically enter a long-
term customer support period. 
The main focus of the test & measurement sector within Circular Economy is therefore on the use phase 
and how to prolong it. 

 





x  MAINTAINING: Our instruments are expected to provide repeatable and accurate results 
throughout their lifetime. With a typical first use of ten years and an overall life of up to forty 
years; great care is taken during design and qualification to assure these stringent performance 
and rigorous reliability requirements can be met, as well as incorporate design for serviceability.  
To extend availability, instruments can be leased or rented; directly or through brokers; helping 
SMEs avoid capital expenditure and improve utilization. We provide periodic calibration services 
to assure the quality and traceability of instruments measurements are sustained year after year.  
 
x  REPAIRING: While our instruments are designed for long term reliability, failures do occur over 
such an extended use period. Our repair services help minimize any instrument down-time and 
customer disruption. Equipment is typically supported for a minimum of five years after market 
withdrawal. Towards the later stages of useful life, specific parts and sub-assemblies no longer 
available on the open market may be recovered from end-of-life equipment specifically to extend 
the support period. 
 
x  REFURBISHING: Technology does not stand still, and enhancements and upgrades are made 
available to extend the useful life of equipment. When a newer piece of equipment is finally 
required, substantial trade-in discounts are offered to customers to reflect the residual asset value 
of the instruments. This provides a steady supply chain of equipment for refurbishment. Extended 
life via resale is of great economic and environmental benefits. Secondary markets 
(refurbishment and resale)
 are significant in this sector as they often account for 4-5% of producer 
turnover for test & measurement producers.  
 
x  RECYCLING: Equipment only enters the waste stream many decades after being placed on the EU 
market.  Our contribution to the stream of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is 
insignificant (< 0.7% by weight of EU WEEE1.) WEEE is collected exclusively through business to 
business – B2B schemes.  
 
This strong focus on maximizing the use phase is completely in line with the first loops of the Ellen 
McArthur Foundation Circular Economy model, which is at the heart of the European Commission’s 
ongoing discussions on the regulatory framework for a Circular Economy 2.0 in the European Union. 
 
 
                                                           
1 Eurostat: WEEE Data 2016 – no distinction between industrial and non-industrial equipment 

 


 
 
The specificities of the test & measurement sector is also translated in specific challenges in the field of 
the Circular Economy, which need to be understood by policy-makers, especially in the framework of 
debates on the tracking of certain substances, or possible future restrictions of certain substances: 
x  Feasibility challenges in tracking substances
o  Traceability is challenging given the extreme complexity of Test & Measurement 
products: 25 - 35% of the components used in Test & Measurement products are custom-
designed for instruments. Member companies of the Test and Measurement Coalition 
have supply chains that can exceed 100 000 suppliers for the quarter of a million parts 
used to produce our equipment; with portfolio scale of up to 5000 active products from 
any one producer. Traceability will therefore pose significant feasibility challenges for the 
sector. 
o  As a result of their long product life, some instruments may only enter the waste stream 
up to 40 years after they are placed on the EU market. Taking into account the constant 
evolution of the list of substances of concern – especially over the course of several 
decades
 – this raises questions on the value of this information for the recyclers. 
 
x  Need to assess the cost-effectiveness of restricting substances in products: 
o  Test & measurement members proactively started to work on redesign before entering 
the scope of the RoHS Directive, and it took them 12 years to be RoHS-compliant. 
Substitution is very challenging as test & measurement instruments have to guarantee 
very high long-term reliability criteria during an extended lifetime. 
o  The impact on innovation for the users of test & measurement products would also need 
to be assessed. This includes SMEs which would be critically impacted in their ability to 
develop/ test new products if access to equipment is removed or availability of second-
hand / refurbished products is made more difficult. 

 

o  After detailed risk assessments, a number of exemptions were granted to test & 
measurement companies to be able to use minimal quantities of certain substances of 
concern in very specific applications, under sectoral legislation. These exempted 
applications are essential for ensuring the performance and long-term reliability of test & 
measurement products during their entire lifetime. The overall long-term benefits from 
circular use in these cases outweigh the health and environmental concern
 related to 
these substances, where the use is made in close loop professional systems with 
appropriate controls, or where use is possible without raising environment and health 
concerns. 
o  A cautious approach is therefore needed, taking into account the cost-effectiveness and 
impact of potential restriction measures.