In late 2002 the European Parliament approved two directives related to the reduction of electrical and electronic waste, namely the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and Restriction of the use of certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directives. The WEEE Directive aims to regulate the reuse, recycling and recovery of waste electrical and electronic equipment; the ultimate goal is to prevent the disposal of this waste.

In the RoHS Directive, the use of the aforementioned substances in most electrical and electronic equipment will be banned or severely restricted. The RoHS Directive calls for the elimination of these substances from most electronic equipment starting 1 July 2006.

RoHS, also known as Lead-Free, stands for Restriction of Hazardous Substances. RoHS Directive 2002/95/EC restricts the use of six hazardous materials found in electrical and electronic products. All applicable products in the EU market after July 1, 2006 must pass RoHS compliance. RoHS impacts the entire electronics industry.

Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS)

The Reduction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) regulations set limits for the following substances:

Lead

Mercury

Cadmium

Hexavalent Chromium

Polybrominated Biphenyls (PBB)

Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDE)

To certify to the above compliances, these substances must not be intentionally added to the product

AND cannot exceed the following maximum allowable levels as a trace substance:

0.1% (1,000 ppm) for: Lead*, Mercury, Hexavalent Chromium, PBB and PBDE

0.01% (100 ppm) for: Cadmium

Lead as an alloying element in copper alloys is allowed up to 4.0% (40,000 ppm); in steel up to 0.35% (3,500 ppm) is allowed; in aluminum alloys up to 0.40% (4,000 ppm) is allowed.

Compliance Assurance System

Restricted Substance Controls (RSC) defines the actions and mechanisms you can take to prevent restricted substances from inclusion in your products. To ensure RSC are effective, the procedures should be integrated into an overall Compliance Assurance System (CAS).

EU Enforcement authorities and OEM customers are requesting documentation of producer’s RoHS compliance procedures to demonstrate that appropriate systems are in place to ensure on-going compliance.

Compliance procedures should be integrated into your quality management system or environmental management system if one exists.

RoHS Certifiation helps you in developing your ‘Compliance Assurance System’

Examples of product components containing restricted substances

RoHS restricted substances have been used in a broad array of consumer electronics products. Examples of leaded components include:

paints and pigments

PVC (vinyl) cables as a stabilizer (e.g., power cords, USB cables)

solders

printed circuit board finishes, leads, internal and external interconnects

glass in television and photographic products (e.g., CRT television screens and camera lenses)

metal parts

lamps and bulbs

batteries

Cadmium is found in many of the above components, examples include plastic pigmentation, nickel- cadmium (NiCd) batteries and CdS photocells (used in night lights). Mercury is used in lighting applications and automotive switches, examples include fluorescent lamps (used in laptops for backlighting) and mercury tilt switches (these are rarely used nowadays). Hexavalent chromium is used for metal finishes to prevent corrosion. Polybrominated biphenyls and diphenyl Ethers/Oxides are used primarily as flame retardants.