Edition No. 13

Meeting the RoHS and WEEE Challenge: Are You Ready?

Successful technology companies have a similar attribute—the ability to respond immediately to changes in the markets they serve. However to remain competitive, they must also have scalable processes to rapidly manage changing global product requirements. Since laws are being introduced and amended frequently, companies who manufacture and sell electronics must have expert knowledge of the product regulatory compliance requirements for each country in which their products are sold. With corporate social responsibility becoming a major global imperative, business risks and the business impact of non-compliance can be substantial.

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This article discusses the two laws, WEEE and RoHS, which currently impact the global electronics industry. It provides an update on the status of each and lists tips and resources that will help you stay current on fast-changing product stewardship developments.

Becoming Product-centric

Product stewardship, also known as extended producer responsibility (EPR), is a product-centric approach to environmental protection. This practice asks those in the product life cycle--manufacturers, retailers, users, and disposers--to share responsibility for reducing the environmental impacts of products.

The European Union (EU), comprised of 25 independent states founded to enhance political, economic and social cooperation, has been at the forefront of this environmental push. On January 27, 2003 the EU adopted two laws regulating electrical and electronic equipment (EEE): Directive 2002/96/EC Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE Directive) and Directive 2002/96/EC Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS Directive).

Defining WEEE

The WEEE directive places an obligation on producers of EEE to take back products at their end-of-life in an effort to reduce the amount of waste electronics going to landfills. The WEEE directive covers products already sold to consumers, as well as products that will be sold in the future to private and business consumers. This directive imposes take back obligations on producers and distributors of the following: large and small household appliances, IT and telecommunication equipment, consumer equipment, lighting equipment, electrical and electronic tools, toys, leisure, and sports equipment, medical devices (with the exception of large-scale stationary industrial tools), monitoring and control instruments, and automatic dispensers. However, there are exemptions for electronic equipment in certain applications.

Defining RoHS

RoHS bans the following compounds from all electrical and electronic equipment sold in the marketplace, including: lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd), hexavalent chromium (Cr6), poly-brominated biphenyls (PBBs), and poly-brominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). RoHS does not apply to certain spare parts, medical devices, and monitoring and control equipment. There are also exemptions for the elimination of lead and several other materials.

The RoHS Directive complements the WEEE Directive by banning the presence of specific hazardous substances in products at the design phase. Both the WEEE and RoHS Directives close the loop on waste electronics from cradle to grave.

Implementing Both Directives

The plan and the reality of implementing these green laws are currently at odds. Many countries in the EU will likely miss the August 13, 2005 deadline to comply with key stipulations of the WEEE Directive. When the WEEE Directive becomes law, it is anticipated that the majority of EU countries will have, at the very least, slightly different regulations. However, when the RoHS Directive is passed into law, it is expected that it will be applied uniformly across all member states. Currently, proposed exemptions to the RoHS Directive are still not yet officially approved.

Countries outside the European Union are adopting their own versions of product stewardship legislation. China has draft laws that regulate waste electronics and restrict certain hazardous substances from inclusion in electronics under agency review at the moment. Canada, Japan, and South Korea are other examples of countries with specific take back regulations already on the books or enacted this year.

Even within the US, there are already regulation differences from state to state for electronic waste management and take back. California has the Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003 and the Cell Phone Recycling Act of 2004 (SB20 and SB50). They follow EU directives as passed but also establish a California-specific method for determining compliance. Many states are following California’s example which could lead to even more laws that regulate product, however the downside is that these laws may not necessarily be consistent.

Meeting the RoHS and WEEE Challenge

Since RoHS and WEEE compliance can differ on a country by country basis, it is a challenge for manufacturers to stay abreast of the specific rules for countries in which they do business. Here are a few tips that will help you stay ahead of the curve.

Keep track of the transposition of the directive into law. As each independent European Union state implements their laws, there will be differences.
Be sure to determine whether your products actually fall under the directive. There are exemptions and certain products fall into grey areas.
Look for progress in the development of a standardized process for hazardous materials declaration.
When your suppliers provide you with concentration levels of hazardous materials in their goods, request data to support their claims. Simply stating they are compliant isn’t good enough. Traceability is the key here.
Make sure your organization has a RoHS compliance roadmap in place. By now you should be working with your supply chain management to ensure that the components you are using are RoHS compliant.

To Learn More about RoHS and WEEE Compliance Support

If your organization is just becoming aware of WEEE and RoHS Directives and would benefit from a facilitated Compliance Strategy Session or needs a WEEE and RoHS Compliance Assessment, EORM provides WEEE and RoHS compliance support services. Our consultants can help you in the development of a high level Compliance Roadmap in addition to supporting various tactical elements, including: tracking and reporting transposition regulatory updates, developing recycler vendor selection criteria, developing restricted substances specifications, coordinating communications with the supply chain regarding restricted substances.

For more information please contact Jeremy Poliquin at poliquinj@eorm.com.

For more information about WEEE and RoHS, please refer to these additional resources:

For news, information and resources on environmental issues:
http://www.my-esm.com/green
The Electronics Industries Alliance tracking tool: EIAtrack
For the semiconductor industry: SEMItrack and SEMI
UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)