From 1 July 2006, the use and disposal of six environmentally hazardous materials such as lead in electronic components and systems put on the market will be banned in Europe under the EU's 'Restrictions on Hazardous Substances' (RoHS) directive and the directive on 'Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment' (WEEE).

Commission Vice-President and former Environment Commissioner, Margot Wallström, said: "We are buying and then throwing away more and more electric and electronic products. They pose real problems in the municipal waste stream because they are often made up of hazardous materials. The two new directives will put an end to this."

As a result products will have to be re-designed to remove certain toxic materials and producers will be responsible for recycling the equipment. This will provide incentives to design equipment in a more environmentally efficient way, taking into account the whole product life cycle from the product's design, throughout its life, up to and including its disposal.

All u-blox products will be made lead-free, including its ANTARIS GPS chipset, modules, receiver boards, smart antennas, active antennas, support products and accessories. The labels on the delivery cartons will contain a lead-free symbol.

Migration will take place while ensuring backward compatibility of all products and high-level product and manufacturing quality. u-blox quality standards will be preserved by retaining existing processes and methodologies, thus ensuring a smooth transition. A production test with 100% coverage, in-line optical and X-ray inspection maintain the high quality of the production process.

"We are proud to take the lead in the application of more environmentally-friendly rules and to give our customers a head start in their own transition to RoHS-compliant products" announced Jean-Pierre Wyss, Director of Production & Finance and Quality Deputy.

Additionally, u-blox's production partner, industry giant Flextronics, already has a proven track record manufacturing lead-free products which will also ensure u-blox products a smooth transition.

About u-blox

u-blox is an international company headquartered in Switzerland, with sales organizations in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Founded in 1997, u-blox develops leading positioning products based on the Global Position-ing System (GPS) for the automotive and mobile communications markets. For more information, please visit http://www.u-blox.com/.