The batteries directive came into force in September 2008, but it will be another 18 months before recycling targets come into force and the regulation really bites. Mercury and cadmium usage are being limited, resulting in the banning of NiCd batteries.
Regulations
This section contains details of the regulations you need to be aware of as a manufacturer of an electronic product within the European Union.
In regulation terms, the manufacturer of an electronic product is typically the company a product is branded under regardless of whether they carry out the actual manufacture of the product or sub contract it to another company. Also several of the regulations apply to distributors of electronic products. The regulations may seem a bit daunting at first but actually each is typically relatively straightforward and there are many companies providing services to ensure you comply. However you should ensure that you factor in the costs to comply with the regulations both in terms of costs to register with schemes and your own companies time providing the necessary information.
CE Marking
Most categories of electrical products must bear a CE mark if you intend to sell them in the Europe. A CE mark and accompanying Declaration of Conformity is a contract between a manufacturer (producer) and the state that the product complies with the relevant regulations, such as the Low Voltage Directive (LVD), Machinery Directive and Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Directive. CE compliance may simply be stated by following a self certification route, may be ascertained by using a notified body to carry out analysis and testing of a new product, or a combination of both. The Declaration of Conformity must be signed by a designated person in the manufacturer / producers company who is responsible for ensuring the product is compliant. Which route to take will be down to your individual requirements. The ‘best’ route is to submit a new product design to a notified body (a registered company that provides compliance testing) to ensure that you are fully complaint. If you wish we can deal with this for you. Alternatively you may decide that the cost of this is too high for a particular product, or the risk of non-compliance is low, and instead self certify the product.
EuP – Energy Using Products Directive
EuP is a new regulation that will force designers of products to reduce the energy usage of a product over its entire life cycle, from raw material extraction from the ground all the away to disposal / recycling. Of all the environmental regulations EuP is the one that is going to have a massive impact on energy consumption of all energy using products, not just electronic products. It is another producer responsibility directive which is being phased in and implementing measures for specific product groups will be introduced over the coming years. As implementing measures are introduced they will become legal requirements and will present significant challenges for the electronics industry. The EuP requirements will be assessed as part of a products overall CE compliance, and will therefore be necessary so that a product can be sold within Europe. The Directive became law in EU Member States in August 2007 and provides a framework for setting EcoDesign requirements for any group of products which use energy (with the exception of vehicles for transport). Implementing measures are expected for the first product groups by the end of 2008.
Packaging Waste Regulations
The Packaging Waste Regulations work on the principle of Shared Producer Responsibility, encouraging producers to take responsibility for their environmental impact. The Regulations require obligated producers to pay a proportion of the cost of the recovery and recycling of their packaging. (more…)
REACH (Registration, Evaluation & Authorisation of Chemicals)
The REACH regulations have already come into force and are now in the registration phases. The REACH regulations are a monster even by the EU’s standard and are many hundreds of pages long. They apply directly to manufacturers and users of chemicals who must register by specific target dates from 2011 to 2018 if their activities are covered by the regulations. The purpose of the regulations is to tackle the problem of the huge amount of harmful and persistent chemicals in use around the world. While the regulations will be expensive for companies to comply with, the cost to society is expected to result in an overall cost saving, with significant reductions in the human medical affects of chemical usage expected in the future. Whilst not directly affecting many electronic product designs or electronic product manufacturers, they are still something to be aware of as it is expected that in due course a significant number of the more unpleasant chemicals in use today will be discontinued by their manufacturers due to the cost to comply with the regulations as they tighten their grip. As yet the impact on the electronics industry is unknown, but many of the chemicals used in electronics are likely to come under increasing scrutiny.
RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances)
The RoHS directive came into force in 2006 and has had a large impact on the electronics industry. Most categories of electronic products are required to meet the requirements of RoHS, with the primary requirement being the use of lead free components, circuit boards and solder. The widely feared reliability issues have not come to pass, although one ironic side effect of the RoHS regulations is around 8% higher energy usage when manufacturing electronic products, due to the higher soldering temperatures required for lead free solders.
WEEE – Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations
Any business that manufactures or distributes household or non-household electrical products within the European Union needs to comply with the WEEE regulations. They are one of a series of new ‘producer responsibility’ directives that require producers of new equipment to pay for the recycling and/or safe treatment and disposal of the products they put on the market when they eventually come to be thrown away.
