ROHS + WEEE

WEEE became effective in June 2006 and RoHS took effect in July 2006 - so it is important for us all to be aware of their impact on our industry

A summary of the Directives is provided by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) on their website, which we now quote below:

EC Directive on the
Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS)

Extract copied from the BERR website, see link below, dated October 2006
BERR is the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (formerly the Department of Trade & Industry)

The Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive aims to minimise the environmental impact of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEE) by reducing the quantities of four heavy metals and two brominated flame retardants which it may contain.

Products placed on the EU market on or after 1 July 2006 may not contain more than the specified limits of lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE).

The Directive applies primarily to those who manufacture Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE), those who import these goods into the EU; those who export to other Member States; and those who re-brand equipment produced by others.

There are a number of exempted applications for these substances, some of which have been agreed since the UK laid the RoHS Regulations before Parliament. The UK Regulations will be revised to reflect these new exemptions in due course.

The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) is the UK lead for the RoHS Directive, being responsible for EU negotiations and UK implementation. "

Links to information

The BERR (Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) - formerly the Department of Trade & Industry - led the EU negotiations on both Directives, all of RoHS implementation and most aspects of UK implementation of WEEE - for full information, time table, links, etc:

RoHS main page on BERR

Last updated February 2008

http://www.berr.gov.uk/sectors/sustainability/rohs/page29048.html

Link

RoHS in the UK (BERR)

Last updated February 2008

http://www.berr.gov.uk/sectors/sustainability/rohs/uk/page37002.html

Link

RoHS Regulations: Government Guidance Notes (BERR)

Last updated February 2008

http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file44283.pdf

RoHS Regulations: Statutory Instrument 2008 No 37 (OPSI)

Last updated February 2008

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/pdf/uksi_20080037_en.pdf

RoHS in the EU (BERR)

Last updated February 2008

http://www.berr.gov.uk/sectors/sustainability/rohs/eu/page41198.html

Link

EU Commission's Frequently Asked Questions Document: "Frequently Asked Questions on Directive 2002/95/EC on the restriction of use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS) and Directive 2002/96/EC on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE)"

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/weee/pdf/faq_weee.pdf

DTI RoHS Compliance Report -
"Reliability and Failure Analysis: Possible Compliance Approaches for Directive 2002/95/ED (The RoHS Directive)" (BERR)

Last updated January 2008

http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file29926.pdf

RoHS EC Directive 2002/95/EC

February 2003

http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file29912.pdf

WEEE main page on BERR

Last updated February 2008

http://www.berr.gov.uk/sectors/sustainability/weee/page30269.html

Link

WEEE Regulations 2006: Government Guidance Notes (BERR)

December 2007

http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file42909.pdf

WEEE in the UK (BERR)

Last updated February 2008

http://www.berr.gov.uk/sectors/sustainability/weee/WEEE%20in%20the%20UK/page35967.html

Link

WEEE EU Directive 2002/96/EU (BERR)

January 2003

http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file29931.pdf

UK WEEE (Amendment) Regulations 2007: Statutory Instrument No 3454 (OPSI)

December 2007

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2007/pdf/uksi_20073454_en.pdf

UK WEEE Regulations: Statutory Instrument 2006 No 3289 (BERR)

December 2007

http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file35992.pdf

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations (WEEE), Progress Report: December 2007 (BERR)

December 2007

http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file42879.pdf

WEEE in the EU (BERR)

Last updated February 2008

http://www.berr.gov.uk/sectors/sustainability/weee/WEEE%20in%20the%20EU/page35964.html

Link


		For a detailed guide to the specifics of the RoHS and WEEE Directives click here<