Environmental FAQ
- What are RoHS and WEEE?
- What products are not covered under the scope of RoHS and what are exempted from RoHS requirements?
- Where can the information on Pb free solder processing condition for Philips Lumileds Products (SMT packages) be found?
- What is the identification method for Pb free and/or RoHS compliant products from Philips Lumileds?
- What is ELV?
- Where can I learn more about the Chinese RoHS equivalent directive?
- Additional Information
The European Union issued Directive 2002/95/EC regarding the Restriction of the use of certain Hazardous Substances in electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS) and Directive 2002/96/EC on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE).
The objective of the Directive 2002/95/EC (RoHS) is to approximate the laws of the EU Member States on restrictions of the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment, and contribute to the protection of human health and the environmentally sound recovery and disposal of waste electrical and electronic equipment.
The directive restricts the use of six hazardous substances in electrical and electronic products sold in the European Union (EU) starting July 1, 2006, to a maximum concentration value of 0.1% by weight in homogeneous materials for lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) and of 0.01% by weight in homogeneous materials for cadmium shall be tolerated.
For more information on RoHS, WEEE and the subsequent secondary legislation, including FAQ’s, please visit the European Commission Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment site.
Products outside scope of RoHS are medical equipment, measurement and control equipment, military and aerospace equipment as well as equipment that are not covered by “specific community waste management legislation.” Products manufactured for own use are also excluded from the scope of the Directive.
In addition, the list of exemptions for the applications of lead, mercury, cadmium and hexavalent chromium could be found in Annex to Directive 2002/95/EC.
Soldering process information can be found in the datasheets for each of Philips Lumileds products.
Products that are Pb free would be identified with the Pb free symbol on the packaging label.
The p roduct labeling scheme for RoHS compliant products would include “RoHS Compliant” reference and an example of the new labeling scheme with the RoHS Compliant statement is illustrated below. This will help the customers to keep track of their inventory with detailed labels that provides manufacturer name and number, a part number, RoHS compliance status and country of origin.
The Directive 2000/53/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on end-of-life vehicles is focusing on preventing waste from end-of-life vehicles and promote the collection, re-use and recycling of their components to protect the environment. The responsibility of the manufacturer of components finally assembled into any vehicle (vehicle designated as category M1 or N1 defined in Annex IIA to Directive 70/156/EEC, and three wheel motor vehicles as defined in Directive 92/61/EEC, but excluding motor tricycles) would be to restrict or eliminate the use of the hazardous substances as specified under the directive except under exemptions specified under Annex II Materials and components exempt from Article 4 (2) (a) so as to promote recycling or reuse of the components in ELV.
For more information on ELV, please visit the European Commission End of Life Vehicles site.
More information can be found at:
- Management Methods for Controlling Pollution by Electronic Information Products
China RoHS Steering Committee - China RoHS FAQ
