IEC TR 62785:2013

IEC/TR 62785 ®
Edition 1.0 2013-02
TECHNICAL
REPORT
Guidance on the environmentally conscious design of fibre optics related
products and subsystems
IEC/TR 62785:2013(E)
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from
either IEC or IEC's member National Committee in the country of the requester.
If you have any questions about IEC copyright or have an enquiry about obtaining additional rights to this publication,
please contact the address below or your local IEC member National Committee for further information.

IEC Central Office Tel.: +41 22 919 02 11
3, rue de Varembé Fax: +41 22 919 03 00
CH-1211 Geneva 20 info@iec.ch
Switzerland www.iec.ch
About the IEC
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is the leading global organization that prepares and publishes
International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.

About IEC publications
The technical content of IEC publications is kept under constant review by the IEC. Please make sure that you have the
latest edition, a corrigenda or an amendment might have been published.

Useful links:
IEC publications search - www.iec.ch/searchpub Electropedia - www.electropedia.org
The advanced search enables you to find IEC publications The world's leading online dictionary of electronic and
by a variety of criteria (reference number, text, technical electrical terms containing more than 30 000 terms and
committee,…). definitions in English and French, with equivalent terms in
It also gives information on projects, replaced and additional languages. Also known as the International
withdrawn publications. Electrotechnical Vocabulary (IEV) on-line.

IEC Just Published - webstore.iec.ch/justpublished Customer Service Centre - webstore.iec.ch/csc
Stay up to date on all new IEC publications. Just Published If you wish to give us your feedback on this publication
details all new publications released. Available on-line and or need further assistance, please contact the
also once a month by email. Customer Service Centre: csc@iec.ch.

IEC/TR 62785 ®
Edition 1.0 2013-02
TECHNICAL
REPORT
Guidance on the environmentally conscious design of fibre optics related

products and subsystems
INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
PRICE CODE
L
ICS 33.180.01 ISBN 978-2-83220-646-1

– 2 – TR 62785 © IEC:2013(E)
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 3
INTRODUCTION . 5
1 Scope and objective . 6
2 Normative references . 6
3 Overview of relevant international standards . 6
3.1 General . 6
3.2 IEC 62430:2009: Environmentally conscious design for electrical and
electronic products . 7
3.3 IEC 62075:2012: Audio/video, information and communication technology
equipment – Environmentally conscious design . 7
3.4 ISO/TR 14062:2002: Environmental management – Integrating
environmental aspects into product design and development. 7
3.5 ISO 14006:2011: Environmental management systems – Guidelines for
incorporating ecodesign . 7
3.6 ITU-T L.1100: Procedure for recycling rare metals in information and
communication technology goods . 7
3.7 IEC/TR 62839-1, Environmental declaration: Part 1: Wires and cables and
accessories products specific rules . 7
4 Requirements of IEC 62430:2009 . 7
5 Experiences and best practices of environmental consciousness . 9
5.1 Designing fibre optic cables for recycling . 9
5.2 Environmental protection . 10
5.3 Recycling of used products . 10
5.4 Recyclability of optical fibre cable. 10
Bibliography . 11

Table 1 – IEC 62430:2009 requirements . 8

TR 62785 © IEC:2013(E) – 3 –
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
GUIDANCE ON THE ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS DESIGN
OF FIBRE OPTICS RELATED PRODUCTS AND SUBSYSTEMS

FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote
international co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To
this end and in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications,
Technical Reports, Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as “IEC
Publication(s)”). Their preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested
in the subject dealt with may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-
governmental organizations liaising with the IEC also participate in this preparation. IEC collaborates closely
with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by
agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation from all
interested IEC National Committees.
3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National
Committees in that sense. While all reasonable efforts are made to ensure that the technical content of IEC
Publications is accurate, IEC cannot be held responsible for the way in which they are used or for any
misinterpretation by any end user.
4) In order to promote international uniformity, IEC National Committees undertake to apply IEC Publications
transparently to the maximum extent possible in their national and regional publications. Any divergence
between any IEC Publication and the corresponding national or regional publication shall be clearly indicated in
the latter.
5) IEC itself does not provide any attestation of conformity. Independent certification bodies provide conformity
assessment services and, in some areas, access to IEC marks of conformity. IEC is not responsible for any
services carried out by independent certification bodies.
6) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.
7) No liability shall attach to IEC or its directors, employees, servants or agents including individual experts and
members of its technical committees and IEC National Committees for any personal injury, property damage or
other damage of any nature whatsoever, whether direct or indirect, or for costs (including legal fees) and
expenses arising out of the publication, use of, or reliance upon, this IEC Publication or any other IEC
Publications.
8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of
patent rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
The main task of IEC technical committees is to prepare International Standards. However, a
technical committee may propose the publication of a technical report when it has collected
data of a different kind from that which is normally published as an International Standard, for
example "state of the art".
IEC 62785, which is a technical report, has been prepared by IEC technical committee 86:
Fibre optics.
The text of this technical report is based on the following documents:
Enquiry draft Report on voting
86/433/DTR 86/441/RVC
Full information on the voting for the approval of this technical report can be found in the
report on voting indicated in the above table.
This technical report should be read in conjunction with IEC 62430:2009.

– 4 – TR 62785 © IEC:2013(E)
This publication has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The committee has decided that the contents of this publication will remain unchanged until
the stability date indicated on the IEC web site under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data
related to the specific publication. At this date, the publication will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
A bilingual version of this publication may be issued at a later date.

TR 62785 © IEC:2013(E) – 5 –
INTRODUCTION
Fibre optics related products and subsystems are high performance systems. Their
characteristics can have a negative impact on our environment in one way or another through
their entire life cycle (design, manufacturing, use, recycling, and disposal).
Among several international standards and guidelines relevant to environmental
consciousness, IEC 62430:2009 is the most recently published normative standard of a
horizontal nature. Although optical fibres, optical cables, fibre optic interconnecting devices
and passive components can be understood as non-electrical or non-electronic, they are
within the scope of IEC TC86 (Fibre optics). Thus, designing fibre optic products and
subsystems would need to conform to IEC 62430.
This Technical Report therefore provides informative guidance to assist the designer with
regard to the general aspects of environmentally conscious design covered by IEC 62430.
After quickly grasping the substance of the IEC 62430 requirements through this technical
report, it will be necessary to refer directly to the main text of IEC 62430 for details.

– 6 – TR 62785 © IEC:2013(E)
GUIDANCE ON THE ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS DESIGN
OF FIBRE OPTICS RELATED PRODUCTS AND SUBSYSTEMS

1 Scope and objective
This Technical Report, reiterates all the key normative “shall” texts included in IEC 62430 that
specify requirements and procedures to integrate environmental aspects into the design and
development processes of electrical and electronic products, including combinations of
products, and the materials and components of which they are composed. This report also
conveys information on the experiences and best practices of environmental consciousness of
fibre optics related products and subsystems.
The objectives of this report are to
– help fibre optic industries reduce negative environmental impacts of the equipment and
subsystems throughout the lifecycle (design, manufacturing, use, recycling, and disposal),
– raise awareness of IEC 62430 and other standards among fibre optic industries,
particularly its mandatory requirements,
– share industry information to cooperatively increase the level of environmental
consciousness of fibre optic industries.
2 Normative references
The following documents, in whole or in part, are normatively referenced in this document and
are indispensable for its application. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any
amendments) applies.
IEC 62075:2012, Audio/video, information and communication technology equipment –
Environmentally conscious design
IEC 62430:2009, Environmentally conscious design for electrical and electronic products
ISO/TR 14006:2011, Environmental management systems – Guidelines for incorporating
design
ISO/TR 14062:2002, Environmental management – Integrating environmental aspects into
product design and development
ITU-T-L.1100, Procedure for recycling rare metals in information and communication
technology goods
3 Overview of relevant international standards
3.1 General
There are several documents (published or to be published) as listed below that are relevant
to environmental consciousness of fibre optic industries in one way or another. Among them,
this technical report cites IEC 62430 (see 3.2) as the most relevant normative standard to
which the fibre optic industry could conform. The other documents listed in this clause may be
referred to as needed.
TR 62785 © IEC:2013(E) – 7 –
3.2 IEC 62430:2009: Environmentally conscious design for electrical and electronic
products
This International Standard specifies requirements and procedures to integrate environmental
aspects into design and development processes of electrical and electronic products,
including combinations of products, and the materials and components of which they are
composed. Moreover, the NOTE of the scope reads th
...