RoHS in EPA Centre

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What is RoHS?

RoHS is the Restriction of certain Hazardous Substances, a directive from the European Union (EU) for environment protection (EU Directive 2002/95/EC). This bans the use of certain substances in electrical and electronic equipment products after 1 July 2006.

What is WEEE?

Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment is the directive that deals with the recovery, sorting and treatment of non-compliant products (EU DIRECTIVE 2002/96/EC).  It is expected that from August 2005, such producers will be responsible for financing the collection of waste electrical and electronic equipment from certral points, specialist treatment, and meeting targets for re-use, recycling and recovery.  This directive covers the same scope as WEEE, except for medical devices and monitoring and control instruments. It also applies to electric light bulbs and light fittings in households.

Who is affected?

• Manufactures and distributors selling electrical and electronic equipment within the specified categories

• Companies selling equipment produced by other suppliers under their own brand

• Companies importing (or exporting) affected equipment into European Union(EU) member states

What are the banned substances?

There are six (6) substances that are banned under RoHS and must be replaced by other substances:

Restricted Substances	By weight of homogeneous material
Lead (Pb)	0.1%
Mercury (Hg)	0.1%
Cadmium (Cd)	0.01%
Hexavalent Chromium (VI) <(Cr(VI)>	0.1%
Brominated Biphenyls (PBB)	0.1%
Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDE)	0.1%

The RoHS & WEEE Product Categories