Electronic and electrical products use some pretty hazardous substances. The effects of mercury were made famous in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland with the Mad Hatter, where long exposure to mercury used in ‘felting’ wool resulted in some quite terrible neurological disorders. It’s for this reason that we have legislation like RoHS and REACH to make sure the risk presented to us from these substances is as low as possible.

This week saw the submission of 13 substance dossiers to ECHA for adding to the Registry of Intentions. If approved, following a period of consultancy, they will be added to the Candidate List and will have certain safe use date obligations placed upon them.

ECHA are also planning on releasing a classification and labelling inventory from ECHA. This inventory will help in collection and available of information on substances within the EU.

This week has also witnessed various reaction from industry to WEEE2 after it was voted through by the European Parliament on the 19th January. Hewlett Packard have released a report looking into the effects (or lack of) of WEEE recycling profits on producer costs.

In addition, it has been confirmed that photovoltaic modules will now be included in the scope of WEEE under category four (Consumer Equipment and Photovoltaic Panels), with a huge 85% collection rate for all end-of-life modules.

If you have any questions or want further information on any issues related to legislation in the electronics industry, please email global.legislation@element14.com or use the comments box below.

Gary

Huge news on the WEEE recast this week. EU member state representatives have come to an agreement over new WEEE proposals and the lawmaking process can move forward.  A crucial decision has been made over disputed collection targets, which sees an increase in collection targets with staggered entry into force. Other changes cover methods of collection, definitions of producers and a widened scope. We’ll bring you more on the specific details as soon as we hear.
      
The Eco Design Directive (ErP) seems to be moving forward at speed. The EU commission and its consultant group have identified the next types of products to be assessed for energy related design requirements.  These products will be the feature of detailed scientific study, commissioned by the EU, leading to the implementation of measures lessening the impact of energy related products on the environment.

Counterfeit electronic parts are invading the U.S. supply chain at an increasing rate. More than 70% of the counterfeit parts are coming from China. Ironically, counterfeiters in China are frequently making counterfeit parts from U.S. electronic waste (e-waste) shipped to China. Our US Corporate Director, Safety, Health & Environmental Affairs Ken Manchen explores the issue in his blog ‘Counterfeit parts alarm US military’. Why not follow this up with our online Counterfeit parts quiz?

Finally, we’ve updated our REACH Regulations Legislation Compliance E-book which the latest REACH candidate list as published by ECHA this week.

From all at the element14 legislation team, we wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Gary

A little known article in RoHS 2 that is likely to affect many of you is Article 2.2. This article specifies that the entire supply chain, not just new products, must be cleansed and fully RoHS compliant by the 22nd July 2019 – so don’t forget!

Another possible change to electronics legislation is the addition of new REACH Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC). A paper prepared for the European Commission is encouraging member states to suggest more potential substances, with the Commission aiming for a total of 136 substances to be included by the end of 2012.

ECHA has also been busy looking at the REACH Regulations, conducting a survey into the support they offer to companies. The survey comes after finding out that 40% of companies prepared their dossiers with the support of consultants, citing the reason for outsourcing the work being limited resources within the company or to minimise the administrative burden the work would cause.

A document also creating interesting this week is the ‘What a waste’ report by makeITfair. The report found that around 600 containers of WEEE arrive in Ghana to be disposed of illegally every month. As documented in our Backyard Recycling e-book, the dangers of unregulated and unsafe WEEE disposal are manyfold to those unfortunate enough to work in the trade.

Also linked to better recycling and recovery rates is our post on rare earth minerals. The term ‘rare earth minerals’ is fast becoming the new buzzword in electronics and with the increase in global mineral demand the need to recover REMs from WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) is all the more important. Take a look at our post to find out more.

As always, if you have any questions on the above, or about legislation affecting the electronics industry in general, please get in contact via glegislation@premierfarnell.com or post your comments below.

Gary

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