environmental Strategist, between the lines: The current regulation being discussed affects electronics companies dealing in Europe. As the report points out, this more than likely will be standard operating procedure here in the U.S. in the very near future. Share this competitive environmetnal intelligence with your clients in the electronics business so they can use it as a competitive edge.
As the article states, “We operate in a wide open, ultra-competitive environment where it is imperative to be attuned to new regulations, and essential to be equipped with information that can help preserve a company’s growth potential.” Development and execution of their environmental Management Strategy (eMS) will be the best way to minimize risk, maximize value and optimize performance in dealing with RoHS regulations.
One company we work with took lead out of their product to meet the RoHS regulations and they found the material they used to replace lead cost them less, and in making the switch they eliminate future lead liability issues.
To learn more about RoHS go to Google Search and type in RoHS.
This competitive environmental intelligence also points out, “companies that choose to ignore RoHS regulations, or that don’t take the issue of compliance seriously, are granting unnecessary and valuable opportunities in the marketplace for compliant competitors to earn key advantages as they effectively abandon customers. Whether you don’t want to give market share to a competitor, or you want to gain an edge for yourself, complying with RoHS will impact your bottom line.”
Businesses today need competitive environmental intelligence and as their environmental Strategist (eS) it makes you indispensable.
Understanding RoHS – What it Means to U.S. Manufacturers
Courtesy of Shimadzu Scientific Instruments Inc
Originally published Jul. 2006
Understanding RoHS – What it Means to U.S. Manufacturers
With the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) regulations scheduled to take effect in July 2006, there is ongoing concern regarding the readiness of American companies to meet new European standards. Initiated by the European Union, RoHS is a direct response to growing calls for the regulation of materials deemed hazardous (including lead, cadmium, and mercury) in consumer electronic equipment.
Potentially packing the greatest global impact of any single environmental regulation over the past 25 years, RoHS will affect all electronics manufacturers in some way, across the EU, the United
States, and beyond.
As consumer and environmental concerns gain more and more momentum and political traction, RoHS seems likely to be the beginning of a global trend. Some of the world’s other prime economic regions, including China, Japan, and Taiwan are already working on similar laws (China calls its the Regulation for Pollution Control of Electronic Products), and the geographic market for non-compliant products is shrinking.
In today’s global economy, wide ranging regulatory measures such as these have an often profound impact on the operations of affected organizations. We operate in a wide open, ultra-competitive environment where it is imperative to be attuned to new regulations, and essential to be equipped with information that can help preserve a company’s growth potential. By knowing how RoHS impacts
a company and learning what is required for compliance, companies can stay one step ahead of the game and one step ahead of the competition.
To help you and your organization do that, this paper will touch on the three key questions:
- What is RoHS?
- How will RoHS affect my company?
- How can I comply?
What is RoHS?
In 1998, the European Union (EU) began to turn its attention to the large amounts of hazardous material being dumped into landfills throughout Europe. With waste accumulating rapidly, concerns were raised about the existence of a large and growing possibility of environmental contamination.
Responding to vocal and continuing calls for action, the WEEE (Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment) directive was enacted by the EU – a move that in turn spawned the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive. Both of these measures are meant to reduce the amount of hazardous materials that ultimately end up in landfills throughout the EU.
Despite heavy lobbying against these directives and amendments made to them, these regulations demonstrate a collective sociopolitical focus on environmental concerns. Indicating both the
growing influence of “green thinking” on the part of governments and a desire to move responsibility for compliance up the food chain to manufacturers and suppliers, RoHS is forcing alterations in the current operating standards of a multitude of companies.
RoHS directly regulates the concentration levels of substances considered hazardous in electrical and electronic equipment. The substances regulated include:
- Cadmium
- Hexavalent Chromium
- Lead
- Mercury
- Polybrominated Biphenyls (PBBs)
- Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs)
Maximum allowed concentration values are:
- Up to 0.1% by weight (1,000ppm) in homogeneous materials for lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, PBBs and PBDEs
- Up to 0.01% by weight (100ppm) in homogenous materials for cadmium.
But Wait… There’s More
Just in case you thought that was all relatively straightforward, not all electronic equipment falls within the scope of the regulations. Batteries, for instance, are considered to be a “gray area” product and are not currently covered by the regulations. Similarly, electronic equipment intended to protect national security, or with a military purpose, is exempt.
Beyond these, products where electricity is not the main power source (when the electric current is switched off the equipment cannot fulfill its main function), products where the electrical or electronic components are not needed to fulfill the primary function, and electronics that are part of another type of equipment are all considered to be beyond the scope of RoHS regulations.
So it can all seem rather vague and confusing. And along with these gray areas, there are further exemptions that address situations where higher concentrations of regulated materials are necessary to the function of electronic equipment. These exceptions include the manufacture of large-scale stationary industrial tools, parts for the repair/upgrade of electronics placed on the market before 1 July 2006, and the reuse of electronics introduced before the regulations took effect.
Finally, there exist specific applications where higher concentrations of mercury are allowed – including some varieties of fluorescent lamps – and lead has a wide range of exceptions, including higher allowed levels in the glass of cathode ray and fluorescent tubes, as an alloying element in steel, aluminum, and copper, in an array of solders, and in electronic ceramic parts (including capacitors, magnets, and integrated circuit packages).
However, nobody should believe that they are exempt – these regulations will affect every company in the electrical and electronic industry. The best way to illustrate this is simply to point out that over 25 states in the U.S. are considering similar types of legislation, and California will adopt the EU’s RoHS standards lock, stock, and barrel beginning in 2007. So even for companies that have never
exported product, preparing now for compliance is the only responsible action.
While all this appears difficult to navigate, there are some simple assessment tests you can do to see if your products are likely to be affected by these new regulations. These tests will be discussed further on.
How will RoHS affect my company?
When RoHS goes into effect, manufacturers of electronic equipment for the EU marketplace must be compliant. The regulations do not recognize or grant any leeway to foreign manufacturers or suppliers – the bottom lines of companies everywhere may well be affected.
According to TradeStats Express1, the U.S. alone exported over $124 billion worth of electronics overseas in 2004, with $18 billion of that total coming from areas that will fall under the RoHS purview beginning the second half of 2006. American companies currently selling to Europe, either directly or through distributors, will certainly find that without RoHS compliance, their ability to
compete will be adversely affected.
And while compliance may mean a change in business operations and impose a substantial cost, losing sales across the EU because of non-compliance with what are being touted as ‘consumer focused’ and ‘green’ regulations may affect a company’s operations in the US as well.
Furthermore, companies that choose to ignore RoHS regulations, or that don’t take the issue of compliance seriously, are granting unnecessary and valuable opportunities in the marketplace for compliant competitors to earn key advantages as they effectively abandon customers. Whether you don’t want to give market share to a competitor, or you want to gain an edge for yourself, complying with RoHS will impact your bottom line.
Complying can also provide organizations with increased chances to demonstrate how much they value consumer and environmental concerns. Ultimately, if companies take the initiative to do so, “RoHS compliant” has the potential to become a selling point as Americans realize the value of tightened European regulations.