Draft RoHS and WEEE Directive revisions have been published on the European Commission's website.

"Improving implementation and enforcement of laws on electrical and electronic equipment and cutting unnecessary administrative burden are the main objectives of the revised directives proposed by the Commission today," said the Commission.

The proposed revised RoHS directive would cover medical devices and monitoring and control instruments.

A list of "priority" substances posing particular environmental concerns when used in electrical and electronic equipment will be assessed in line with REACH with a view of a possible ban in the future.

Complying with the requirements of the directive will also be made easier with the introduction of the CE label for electrical and electronic equipment.

The proposed revised WEEE directive sets a new binding target for the collection of electrical and electronic equipment.

The current collection target of 4kg per person per year does not properly reflect the situation in individual Member States.

Some Member States where the consumption of electrical and electronic equipment is widespread would have more ambitious targets under the new directive while others with smaller markets will have less ambitious targets.

The Commission proposes to differentiate the targets by setting mandatory collection targets equal to 65% of the average weight of electrical and electronic equipment placed on the market over the two previous years in each Member State.

The recycling and recovery targets of such equipment now include the re-use of whole appliances, and weight-base targets will increase by 5%. It is also proposed to set targets for the recovery of medical devices.

Modifications to the RoHS Directive include:

• Changes in the legal text to clarify scope and definitions, in particular by creating a binding list of products defining the scope of the RoHS Directive
• Introduction of all relevant provisions already used in the EU "Marketing of products" package of legislation concerning, in particular national market surveillance activities and mechanisms for assessing the conformity of the product
• Adaptation of the procedure for exemptions, for instance by introducing additional socio-economic criteria for granting exemptions and a requirement for applicants to evaluate substitutes before submitting a request
• Inclusion in a staged manner medical devices and control and monitoring instruments within the scope of RoHS of
• Establishing a clear mechanism for identifying and if necessary restricting the use of additional hazardous substances, exploiting all possible synergies with EU chemicals legislation and a list of hazardous substances to be examined as a matter of urgency via this mechanism.

See the European Commission webpage on electrical and electronic equipment.

See also: Electronics Weekly's WEEE Directive In Full Force, a roundup of content related to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment regulations, and a RoHS special, on the European Directive regarding 'Restriction of Hazardous Substances'.

See also: The Directives Decoder blog written by Gary Nevison.

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