Waste from electronic equipment lead restrictions

The environmental impact of waste disposal and of chemical use in Europe has led to three legislative actions that, in today s global economy, greatly affect flame-retardant use and research. These actions go by the acronyms of RoHS (Reduction of Hazardous Substances), WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment), and REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemical substances). These actions are discussed in detail in Chapter 22, but need to be mentioned here as they are clear examples of how changing regulations affect flame-retardant use, selection, and new fire-safety developments. The first one, RoHS, refers to how new items are manufactured, and specifically bans chemicals and elements of environmental and toxicological concern in Europe. One fall-out item of RoHS is the move from a lead-based solder on circuit... 

EnvirOTimental trends are having an impact on electrical applications. Waste legislation includes WEEE (Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directive 2002/%/EC which holds producers responsible for collection and recovery of materials at end of Ufe. Additionally, materials that contain bromine-based flame retardants must be removed from the waste and handled separately. In restrictions on use of hazardous substances (ROHS) directive 2002/95/EC, the use of various hazardous materials is restricted. These include lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls, and polybrominated diphenyl ether. Since the introduction of Blue Angel in Germany in 1978, several other eco-labels have been implemented. These include TCO (Sweden), Nordic Swan, Milieukeur (Netherlands), and the EU Ecolabel. The general purpose of these labels is to provide cmisumers with information relating to the environmental impact of the products they purchase. 

LEGISLATION ON THE RESTRICTIONS ON CERTAIN HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES (ROHS) AND THE WASTE FROM ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT (WEEE) DIRECTIVES IS THE BIGGEST CHANGE THE SMT INDUSTRY HAS FACED IN MORE THAN A DECADE. AS THE COMPLIANCE DATES DRAW NEAR, MANY COMPANIES ARE EXAMINING THEIR CHECKLISTS TO BE SURE THEY HAVEN T MISSED ANYTHING. SMT MAGAZINE SPOKE WITH SOME INDUSTRY EXPERTS TO SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH LEAD-FREE. 

Aside from the proposed EU legislation, a number of Member States took the initiative to improve the management of electronic waste in parallel with, or even before, the Commission s proposal. None of these planned or adopted provisions includes measures to restrict the use of lead in electronic equipment. These initiatives concerning the management of waste are discussed below. Nevertheless, Denmark has adopted a general ban on the import and marketing of... 

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