RoHS Directive | RoHS Standard

The Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) 2002/95/EC was adopted in February 2003 by the European Union.

RoHS is often referred to as the "lead-free" directive.
The RoHS directive took effect on July 1, 2006, but is not a law; it is simply a directive.

It is closely linked with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) 2002/96/EC which sets collection, recycling and recovery targets for electrical goods and is part of a legislative initiative to solve the problem of huge amounts of toxic e-waste.

The RoHS WEEE compliance directive places the responsibility of compliance on the "producer" of the equipment. This RoHS Directive is part of an ever-increasing push for more environmentally sound manufacturing procedures as demand for electrical and electronic goods rises.

RoHS will have significant impact - on a global scale - with manufacturers being prohibited from placing products on the market that contain banned substances.

Sample RoHS Compliance Statement | RoHS Testing | RoHS Banned Substances

RoHS restricts the use of the following 6 substances:

• Lead
• Mercury
• Cadmium
• Chromium VI
• PBB
• PBDE

PBB and PBDE are flame retardants used in some plastics.

RoHS Criticism

Restricting lead content in solders for electronics requires expensive retooling of the assembly lines and different coatings for the leads of the electronic parts. The alternatives to the solders typically have higher melting points (up to 260 °C, instead of just 215 °C), requiring different materials for chip packagings and for some circuit boards; the overheating may also affect reliability of some semiconductors.

The alternative solders are also harder, resulting in slow development of cracks (instead of plastic deformation, as the softer Sn-Pb solder does) because of thermal expansion and contraction as some parts heat up and cool down during operation, thus significantly impairing long-term reliability and device lifetime. Some countries therefore tend to exempt medical and telecommunication infrastructure products from the legislation.
 

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RoHS - WEEE NEWS