Legislation driving design best practice
Hi all
New EU legislation is affecting the design of new electrical and electronic equipment in a variety of ways. The Energy using Products (EuP) Directive will encourage the eco-design of equipment which uses less energy throughout its lifecycle and avoids the use of hazardous materials, not only in the products but also in the manufacturing process of raw materials and component parts. The REACH regulations provide a mechanism for the control of most chemical substances used by industry. This legislation is also likely to affect equipment design as it will be more difficult to justify the use of substances regarded as toxic, carcinogenic, etc. and so designers should look for alternative components and designs that avoid these types of materials. In some respects, this regulation will require design engineers to become chemists, at least to ask what substances are present in materials and preparations (adhesives, paints, etc.) that are used to make products. Certain substances within finished products themselves are also included in the scope of REACH if they might be released, intentionally or accidentally, during use. Finally, there is a new Batteries Directive that comes into force in 2008. The main impact on design engineers will be the new restrictions on nickel cadmium batteries. These will only be permitted in certain applications although, in some cases, it will only be a temporary exemption. Alternative battery types have different characteristics and require different chargers. Nickel metal hydride is similar to nickel cadmium but should not be regarded as a drop in replacement as there are differences in their characteristics.
Directive Decoder
