The Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive or RoHS, sometimes prounounced 'ross' or 'rose' depending on which manufacturer or distributor you are talking to or in what country. RoHS is a European Union (EU) directive and came into effect on 1 July 2006. The EU has banned the use of six environmentally unfriendly materials from nearly all new electrical and electronics products developed for the European market. Who cares? In this presentation I consider why it does matter from the point of view of a manufacturer of electronics products, and from the point of view of you and I, i.e. consumers of electrical and electronics products and the public at large.

1. Restriction of Hazardous
Substances (RoHS) Directive
Image: European Commission
Jacqueline McNally 19 August 2006

2. What is the RoHS Directive?
Image: Tim Lindgren
Why Does It Matter?

3. Electrical and Electronic
Equipment covered by RoHS
Equipment, “which is
dependent on electric
current or electromagnetic
fields in order to work
properly, and equipment
for the generation, transfer
and measurement of such
Images: BurningWell.org
currents and fields”
(European Commission 2006)

4. Products Outside the Scope of
RoHS
Teddy with battery: Home Security Store
Early Victa Mower: National Museum Canberra
Gas Cooker with
electric clock:
Yahoo! Shopping
Nail Gun: Ebay.com.au
Air Compressor: Ebay.com.au
(pinnacle-wholesalers)
(pinnacle-wholesalers)

5. Regulation Restricts Six
Hazardous Substances
Lead (Pb)
Mercury (Hg)
Hexavalent chromium (CrVI)
Polybrominated biphenyls (PBB)
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE)
Cadmium (Cd)
(Roos 2006)

6. RoHS Maximum Concentration
Levels Less than or equal to
Lead (Pb) 1,000 ppm
Mercury (Hg) 1,000 ppm
Hexavalent chromium (CrVI) 1,000 ppm
Polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) 1,000 ppm
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) 1,000 ppm
Cadmium (Cd) 100 ppm
(Roos 2006)

7. Additionally Included, Not
Included and Exemptions
Does the Pipe Organ have a
Future?
EU Commission confirms
that the Pipe Organ is
not a threat to the
environment ...........
27th June 2006
Campaign Victory
Image: Defending the Pipe Organ 2006

8. Homogeneous Material
A material that can not be mechanically
disjointed into different materials.
“homogeneous” means “of uniform composition
●
throughout”
“mechanically disjointed” means that the materials
●
can, in principle, be separated by mechanical
actions such as: unscrewing, cutting, crushing,
grinding and abrasive processes

9. Computer Board
ISA-buss multi-function card
(IDE, floppy, serial, parallel, games)
ribbon cable
semi-c0nductor
printed circuit board
connector
Image: BurningWell.org

10. “RoHS seems like a plan to make people feel
good rather than to accomplish much
worthwhile. These days, you just don't find
that much hazardous material in electronic
equipment. People want to get lead out of
electronics, but there's a bigger lead issue --
vehicle batteries. About 90% of lead
production goes into these batteries.”
(Online EE Forum 2006)

11. “Lead has already been removed from paint
and from gasoline. It was only a matter of
time before the electronics manufacturing
process went lead-free.”
(Erdman 2006)

12. Waste Electrical and Electronic
Equipment (WEEE)Directive
Prevention of waste
●
electrical and
electronic
equipment
Promote the reuse,
●
Image: Mark Dempsey
recycling and other
forms of recovery
of such wastes so as
to reduce disposal.
(European Commission 2006)

13. “Most Americans get a new cell
phone every year.”
“Cell phones, along
with digital music
players, computers,
electronic organizers,
digital cameras, and
just about
anything else you can
think of are not made
to last more
than a few years.” Photography: Jacqueline McNally
(The Green Life 2006)

14. John Klossner Cartoons

15. Manufacturer

16. What You Can Do?
Buy Less
●
Buy Green
●
Donate
●
Recycle
●
Photography: Jacqueline McNally

17. John Klossner Cartoons

18. Bibliography
Conner, M., 2006, 'Beyond RoHS: The Greening of Global Markets', EDN,
20 July, p. 38.
Defending the Pipe Organ, 2006, 'Does the Pipe Organ have a Future?',
[Online], Available from: <http://www.pipes4organs.org/> [16 October
2006].
Dempsey, P., 2006, 'Lead-free but not problem free', Electronic Engineering
Times, [Online], Available from: <
http://www.edatechforum.com/journal/sept2006/lead_free_intro.cfm>
[16 October 2006].
Dempsey, M., 2006, 'The WEEE Directive: UK Experience', [Online],
Available from: <http://www.aeema.asn.au/ArticleDocuments/41/Mark%
20Dempsey%20Presentation.ppt> [16 October 2006].
Erdman, J., 2005, 'Getting the lead out of electronics', [Online], Available
from: <http://www.standards.org.au/cat.asp?catid=125&contentid=176&News=1>
[16 October 2006].
European Commission, 2006, Directive 2002/95/EC of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 2003 on the restriction of the
use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment,
[Online], Available from: <http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32002L0095:EN:HT
ML> [19 October 2006]. Photography: Jacqueline McNally

19. Bibliography
European Commission, 2006, Directive 2002/96/EC of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 2003 on waste electrical and
electronic equipment (WEEE), [Online], Available from: <http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32002L0096:EN:HT
ML> [19 October 2006].
European Commission, 2006, Frequently Asked Questions on Directive
2002/95/EC on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in
electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS) and Directive 2002/96/EC on
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE), [Online],
Available from: <http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/pdf/faq_weee.pdf>[19
October 2006].
E2E Forums, 2006, Design News, [Online], Available from: <
http://rbi.ims.ca/4932-506>[16 October 2006].
King, W. M., 2006, 'RoHS Compatibilities: RoHS-compliancy is just one of
the design issues', Design News, [Online], Available from:
<http://www.designnews.com/article/CA6351091.html?text=RoHS%
2Dcompliancy> [16 October 2006].
Howard, C. E., 2006, 'Electronics designers grapple with lead-free solder
guidelines', Military & Aerospace Electronics, [Online], Available from:
<http://mae.pennnet.com/articles/article_display.cfm?Section=ARCHI&C
=Feat&ARTICLE_ID=262074&KEYWORDS=lead%2Dfree%20solder%
20guidelines&p=32> [16 October 2006].
Image: The Green Life

20. Bibliography
Magnusson, J., 2006, 'The Guide to the Green Life: Don't be an E-Waster',
[Online], Available from: <http://www.thegreenlife.org/ewaste.html> [16
October 2006].
Maxianova, K. & Rusche, T. M. 2006, 'Restriction of Hazardous Substances:
On the Need for and the Limits of Comitology', RECIEL, vol. 15, no. 2, pp.
202-210.
Roos, G., 2006, 'Design Priorities Shift in a Post-RoHS World', Electronic
Engineering Times, 21 Aug, p. 1.
Image: Mark Dempsey