RoHs certification service

Courtesy: RoHs certification service

Note that batteries are not included within the scope of RoHS. However, in Europe, batteries are under the European Commission’s 1991 Battery Directive (91/157/EEC), which was recently increased in scope and approved in the form of the new battery directive, version 2003/0282 COD, which will be official when submitted to and published in the EU’s Official Journal. While the first Battery Directive addressed possible trade barrier issues brought about by disparate European member states’ implementation, the new directive more explicitly highlights improving and protecting the environment from the negative effects of the waste contained in batteries. It also contains a programme for more ambitious recycling of industrial, automotive, and consumer batteries, gradually increasing the rate of manufacturer-provided collection sites to 45% by 2016. It also sets limits of 5 ppm mercury and 20 ppm cadmium to batteries except those used in medical, emergency, or portable power-tool devices. Though not setting quantitative limits on quantities of lead, lead–acid, nickel, and nickel–cadmium in batteries, it cites a need to restrict these substances and provide for recycling up to 75% of batteries with these substances. There are also provisions for marking the batteries with symbols in regard to metal content and recycling collection information.

The directive applies to equipment as defined by a section of the WEEE directive. The following numeric categories apply:

1. Large household appliances
2. Small household appliances
3. IT & telecommunications equipment (although infrastructure equipment is exempt in some countries)
4. Consumer equipment
5. Lighting equipment – including light bulbs
6. Electronic and electrical tools
7. Toys, leisure, and sports equipment
8. Medical devices (exemption removed in July 2011)
9. Monitoring and control instruments (exemption removed in July 2011)
10. Automatic dispensers
11. Other EEE not covered by any of the categories above.

It does not apply to fixed industrial plant and tools. Compliance is the responsibility of the company that puts the product on the market, as defined in the Directive; components and sub-assemblies are not responsible for product compliance. Of course, given the fact that the regulation is applied at the homogeneous material level, data on substance concentrations needs to be transferred through the supply chain to the final producer. An IPC standard has recently been developed and published to facilitate this data exchange, IPC-1752. It is enabled through two PDF forms that are free to use.

RoHS applies to these products in the EU whether made within the EU or imported. Certain exemptions apply, and these are updated on occasion by the EU.

Examples of product components containing restricted substances

RoHS restricted substances have been used in a broad array of consumer electronics products. Examples of components that have contained lead include:

• paints and pigments
• PVC (vinyl) cables as a stabiliser (e.g., power cords, USB cables)
• solders
• printed circuit board finishes, leads, internal and external interconnects
• glass in television and photographic products (e.g., CRT television screens and camera lenses)
• metal parts
• lamps and bulbs
• batteries
• integrated circuits or microchips

Cadmium is found in many of the components above; examples include plastic pigmentation, nickel–cadmium (NiCd) batteries and CdS photocells (used in night lights). Mercury is used in lighting applications and automotive switches; examples include fluorescent lamps and mercury tilt switches (these are rarely used nowadays). Hexavalent chromium is used for metal finishes to prevent corrosion. Polybrominated biphenyls and diphenyl ethers/oxides are used primarily as flame retardants