The Restriction on the use of Certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive was implemented by the European Union on 1 July 2006. Subsequently, countries like Japan, Korea, China and the United States have also introduced similar regulations.
RoHS restricts the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) to specified concentration levels. It affects EEE exporters, manufacturers, as well as businesses in their supply chains.
Under this new
EU directive,
2002/95/EC and its series of amendments which can be downloaded at
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/index.htm, all exports of electrical and electronic products to the EU must contain a reduced amount of hazardous substances namely lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE).
Disclaimer : Only European Union legislation printed in the paper edition of the Official Journal of the European Union is deemed authentic.
Objectives
The objectives of the new directive are to :
- Eliminate or minimise the hazardous substances in the production, treatment and disposal of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE)
- Reduce the waste from EEE and improve or maximise their reuse, recycling and recovery
- Complement existing legislation and waste incineration
Scope
The scope of the directive includes :
- Large household appliances, small household appliances, IT and telecommunications equipment, consumer equipment, lighting equipment, electrical and electronic tools with the exception of large-scale stationary industrial tools, toys, leisure and sports equipment and automatic dispensers/ vending machines (These EEE’s are found under categories 1-7 and 10 of Annex 1A of the WEEE directive 2002/96/EC)
- Electric light bulbs and luminaries used in households
The directive does not apply to spare parts for repair or to the reuse of EEE which were put on the market before 1 July 2006.
Elimination of hazardous substances in new EEE sold is effective from 1 July 2006 with the exception of those applications listed in the
Annex in the RoHS EU directive 2002/95/EC.
Maximum concentration of the hazardous list
A maximum concentration value of 0.1% or 1000 ppm by weight in homogenous materials for lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) and of 0.01% by weight in homogenous materials for cadmium shall be tolerated. This means that the limits do not apply to the weight of the finished product, or even to a component, but to any single substance that can not be separated mechanically – for example, the sheath on a cable or the tinning on a component lead. Or to material of uniform composition throughout – for example, individual types of plastics, ceramics, glass, metals and coatings.
Compliance
It is the responsibility of companies selling products containing the six hazardous chemicals to comply with the new directives. Components and sub-assembles manufacturers are not responsible for product compliance. However, as the regulation is applied at the homogenous material level, data on substance concentrations needs to be transferred through the supply chain to the final producer. RoHS applies to products sold in the EU whether made within the EU or imported.
Generally, companies are to make self-declarations on compliance. However, each member state may draw up its own testing and sampling requirements. Each state will also determine penalties applicable to breaches of the national regulations.
For more information, please see
RoHS Enforcement Guidance Document.
Related Links & Resources
Download the
Singapore RoHS Compliant Suppliers Directory 2009 (includes a Guide to Complying with RoHS)
Visit the
Singapore RoHS Compliant Suppliers Directory website