Once there was only the RoHS Directive in the European Union (EU) causing problems for the design engineer community.
Today several other pieces of legislation provide challenges to industry and often impact on the design phase of a product.
Many of these directives are driven from Europe but the world now seems to be a smaller place when it comes to tackling environmental issues with China, Korea, Australia, North America and, to a lesser extent, India all considering their own approach to restricting hazardous substances as well as more efficient ways of recycling.
Taking a quick look at what is happening today, the EU is undertaking a review of the RoHS Directive and the scope is likely to be widened to include more products such as “categories 8 and 9” covering medical products and monitoring & control instrumentation devices. Less likely, but possible, is the inclusion of more substances, in particular flame retardants.
Two pieces of legislation known as the Energy using Products (or EuP) Directive and the REACH Policy Reform, will have a significant impact on the environment.
EuP focus is on energy efficiency throughout the life-cycle of a product. Reviews are taking place on several product categories such as consumer items, power supplies and lighting.
Recommendations will be made to improve efficiency and the design engineer may well have to look to lower voltages as halving voltage halves the power consumption, as just one of several possible measures.
REACH Policy Reform looks to register around 30,000 chemicals and all new ones brought onto the market. Today we donot fully understand the effects, uses and handling of many of the chemicals available. REACH looks for these to be registered along with all the necessary safety data. The cost to industry could be significant but, long-term, there could be considerable health benefits as we see a potential reduction in allergies, asthma, certain types of cancer, as well as a positive impact on wildlife.
Global recycling legislation looks for the efficient collection, treatment, recycling and disposal of products at the end-of-life. However, once again there is a design emphasis with early consideration given to the ease of recycling. Quickly dismantling a product into its major parts such as the printed circuit board and enclosure, right through to using plastic clips rather than screws that are time consuming to remove, all aids the recycling process.
As well as China, other countries have either implemented or are considering RoHS, or RoHS style legislation including South Korea, Australia, Thailand and Taiwan, while Norway has a proposal to restrict 18 substances in what are described as “consumer” products.
US and Canadian States continue to introduce substance restrictions and recycling initiatives and the likes of Mexico, Australia, Taiwan and several South American countries are planning, or have already implemented WEEE based legislation.
What with the ATEX Directive covering products that are specified for use in potentially explosive atmospheres, and the Battery Directive, there has been constant activity in the EU. However, global expansion will demand more and more directives become law in areas such as North America, China and India.
Directive Decoder
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