ROHS is the acronym for Restriction of Hazardous Substances. ROHS, also known as Directive 2002/95/EC, originated in the European Union and restricts the use of specific hazardous materials found in electrical and electronic products. All applicable products in the EU market after July 1, 2006 must pass ROHS compliance Certification. the definition and aim of the ROHS directive is quite simple. The ROHS directive aims to restrict certain dangerous substances commonly used in electronic and electronic equipment. ROHS became a directive because our fast growing electronic industry. The life span for electronics decreased from approximately 6 years to 2 years in the past decade. Most of these products end up in land fills where the hazardous substances from the electronics can potentially leach out. WEEE is a companion EU law to ROHS, which stands for Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment.WEEE manufacturers and importers of electronic products are responsible for meeting the cost of their collection, treatment and recycling within the EU.
There are certain items and parts that were on the market prior to July 1, 2006, that are exempt from ROHS, but most items used in equipment will have to meet full compliance. Some items will be completely discontinued due to not meeting the ROHS compliance, or manufacturers will have to change their process in order to meet the ROHS compliance. When a non-compliant product is identified, their approach is to work with the producer towards full compliance. PPI has worked towards full compliance of their products in both EU ROHS and China ROHS.
ROHS will reduce the need for special handling of electronic waste in the future, while WEEE will deal with both existing and future waste, diverting it from EU landfills and reducing the threat of soil and water contamination, as well as human exposure to toxic substances.
In order to obtain the certification, it is necessary to seek out a third party company that provides test reports of the material, material declarations directly from the supplier and what is known as a Declarations of Conformity. It is all about testing the material, making sure its housing, manufacturing and distributing is aligned with the set forward regulations of ROHS,
When working with these third party organizations, they test the presence of different chemical compounds and components, including lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated diphenyl ethers and polybrominated biphenyls.