RoHS & WEEE
Both the WEEE and RoHS Directives will be implemented in UK law and throughout the
EU. These directives promote environmental legislation which seeks, via the RoHS,
to reduce the quantity of hazardous material in electrical and electronic products
and, via the WEEE Directive, to promote more environmentally friendly design and
greater recycling of material in similar products.
WEEE
The WEEE (Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Directive aims to encourage
producers of electrical and electronic equipment to design in an environmentally
friendly way and to maximize the potential for recyclability or re-use of the product.
The initial intent of the directive was to address the issue raised by the huge
volume of consumer products which were discarded after a very short period of use
due to fashion or technology changes, but is now deemed to apply to all producers
of electrical and electronic equipment (with certain exemptions as defined in the
text). The text of the directive may be viewed in English at the following url:
http://www.dti.gov.uk/innovation/sustainability/rohs/page29048.html
Producers are encouraged under the proposed legislation to arrange for the recovery
and disposal or recycling of their products and to cover the cost of that process.
Many small and medium sized businesses will 'sell on' their obligations under the
legislation to a compliance scheme to which they subscribe. At the time of writing,
the precise details of UK regulations are subject to review, so any implications
for our suppliers or customers will be communicated via our website.
RoHS
The RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) Directive seeks to minimize the amount
of particular elements and compounds in electrical and electronic products. The
text of the directive, in English, and details of the prohibited substances and
scope can be viewed at:
http://www.dti.gov.uk/innovation/sustainability/rohs/page29048.html
RoHS and Canford customers
The implications for Canford customers often depend on whether products are being
purchased for incorporation into manufactured electrical or electronic goods or
are to be used by an end user.
Manufacturers
Customers who purchase an item which itself may form part of a finished item of
electrical or electronic equipment which will be placed on the market within the
EC need to know that the item or component purchased from Canford is compliant in
itself and could not cause any piece of equipment into which it may be incorporated
to become non-compliant. It is Canford's intention that up to date information on
the compliance status of items we sell will be provided in the product information
pages of this website.
This apparent anomaly of listing the compliance status of items which in themselves
may not require to comply may be explained by considering the example of a screw
whose plating contains prohibited substances in the plating. If such a screw were
to be used to fix an item which was entirely passive, there are no RoHS implications.
If, however, the screw was used to fix the case of an electronic item for sale on
the open EC market, there are clear RoHS implications.
Canford will therefore seek to provide information on its products including those
which, although themselves not requiring to comply with the legislation, could have
implications for the compliance status of any piece of equipment into which it is
incorporated. The RoHS information provided by Canford will take the form of a status
flag in one of the following forms:
-
This
indicates that to the best of our information, the relevant finished item or component
has been checked and is not believed to contain any prohibited substances.
-
This indicates that the item is non-compliant either in
itself or if it were to be incorporated into a relevant separate finished product.
This description can therefore be confusing, as non-compliance may be irrelevant
in the case of a component which is not purchased for incorporation into an item
covered by the legislation.
-
This
indicates that the item in question is exempt from the scope of the legislation
and would have no detrimental effect even if incorporated as a component into another
piece of equipment.
-
This indicates that Canford believes that the item may
not be exempt but that there is insufficient information to declare its actual status.
It will also be used frequently in the early stages of implementation when there
may be both compliant and non-compliant items in stock in the changeover period.
Customers who buy complete items for re-sale should also note that in the transition
period mentioned above, there may be non compliant stock in the chain which was
on the market prior to the implementation date, and may be sold legitimately. As
we operate an effective FIFO system ("first-in-first-out") in our warehouse, this
transition period should be relatively short for the majority of items.
Additionally, customers who buy certain types of product for incorporation into
large fixed installations (usually system integrators) may also find that the installation
itself is outside the proposed scope of the legislation, although further clarification
should be sought on this issue.
End User Customers
In the case of customers buying for their own use, they should simply be aware that
complete items of electrical or electronic equipment having an intrinsic function
should be compliant and it is Canford's policy to seek to provide this assurance.
As above, it is the case that there will be a transition period during which compliant
and non compliant versions of a product may be simultaneously available as stock
clears the FIFO system. However, it should be noted that customers will not contravene
the law by using potentially non-compliant versions (in contrast to the directives
on EMC and Safety where use by the customer could be illegal). Additionally, end
users should also note that there may be exemptions for equipment for use in certain
large fixed installations, as mentioned previously, and again clarification should
be sought before assuming an exemption.
Product Implications
As mentioned, the intent of this legislation is to improve the environmental impact
of manufactured electrical and electronic products, both by reducing the amount
of potentially toxic materials used in the manufacturing process and by encouraging
re-use and or recycling of the material content of the product.
A particular impact which has meant major change for electronics manufacturers is
the need to reduce the lead content in products and the consequent search for alternative
soldering technologies. Canford began the process of using non-leaded solder in
2003 and has also been engaged in the laborious process of changing over to components
which have non-lead solder dipped contacts and content. Despite the complexity of
the task of making the changes to a few thousand low volume product component lists,
Canford, with the cooperation of hundreds of suppliers, plans to be offering compliant
products by the summer of 2006.
Some unexpected consequences also appeared as a result of our review of our own
manufactured products, for example discovering the presence of prohibited substances
in some plating materials and colourants in items as diverse as screws, rack cases
and plastic parts, all of which are being addressed with the result that we believe
that customers can purchase with confidence from a supplier who takes its responsibilities
seriously and seeks determinedly to meet its legal and environmental obligations.