Directive Decoder

Hi all......thought that would get your attention...read on!!
Wouldn't normally run promotions through this column but here are a few things I feel worthy of a mention.
First of all it was great to see so many of you at NEPCON. Around a hundred dropped in to my China RoHS presentations held in the Electronics Yorkshire seminar area. The RoHS and WEEE seminars run by Mark and Leigh of ECO3 were also very well attended.
The ECO3 guys have an interactive toolkit available to aid compliance with the RoHS and WEEE directives. Take a look:
http://www.e3toolkit.co.uk

Premier Farnell has launched a comprehensive range of labels to support phase one of the China RoHS Directive. The two symbols are required for use with Electronic Information Products to denote if hazardous substances are present below (green label) or above (orange label with Environmentally Friendly Use Period) the maximum permitted concentration values.
http://uk.farnell.com/images/en/ede/pdf/china_rohs_labels.pdf

Finally, mention of a new initiative from Premier Farnell....the Live Edge (Electronic Design for the Global Environment) environmental design challenge.
Premier Farnell is strongly committed to environmental protection. As part of continuing efforts to promote environmental awareness within, and beyond, the electronics industry they have organised a high-profile design competition that will be judged by a prestigious global panel of influential and respected individuals.
"EDGE" will encourage electronics engineers, academics and students around the world to submit designs for a product that will help to reduce or minimise environmental damage, for example by increasing energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions. Whether a totally self-contained system or a component that makes up a larger product, the winning entry will be supported from design towards production.
Launched simultaneously across the world the winner of the competition will receive a cash prize of $50,000 with a full support package valued at over $50,000 enabling the theory and concept to move towards production. A further 5 runners up will be recognised.
Take a look at the attached link and good luck if you have ago!!
http://www.live-edge.co.uk/

Directive Decoder

Once there was only the RoHS Directive in the European Union that we had to think about.
Today there are 10 pieces of legislation upon us, or in the pipeline, that will impact our industry.
As well as the current review on the scope of EU RoHS, which could lead to more products (likely) and substances (possibly) included, we now have:

Energy using Products (EuP)
REACH Policy Reform
WEEE
China RoHS
South Korean RoHS
Australian RoHS
Norwegian PoHS
Batteries
ATEX

As well as an ever increasing number of substance restrictions in North America

Let me know which of these has the biggest impact on your company, and why, and I will share in this column.

Directive Decoder

It crossed my mind that test equipment is becoming a hot topic. Monitoring and Control Instruments are category 9 of the WEEE Directive and therefore do not fall within the scope of EU RoHS today.

However, with the review on scope of EU RoHS currently taking place and with proposed legislation in Norway and China all that could change.

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.

I was thinking about the number of products that are touched by the various directives.
Here are a few examples that might be supplied by your electronic component distributor.

RoHS
External hard drives, memory cards, bluetooth adapters, digital cameras, keyboards, IT cables, mouse, printers, Ethernet switches, routers. PCI cards, calculators, clocks, laser pointer, spinning levitation globe (electrical toy), telephones, headphones, 2-way radios, modem adaptors, electric grinders, electric drills, soldering irons, vacuum cleaners, battery chargers (may be regarded as tools), torch, etc.

WEEE
All of above (covered by RoHS) plus:
Line tester, PAT tester, digital voltmeter, cable detector, laboratory power supplies (some RoHS authorities may regard these as tools and so in scope of RoHS but this is unclear), oscilloscopes, multimeters, temperature meters and thermocouples.

Two new studies have been started by the European Commission regarding the RoHS Directive. One is considering the case for ALL existing exemptions plus some new requests, the other is looking at adding more substance restrictions to RoHS beyond the existing 6. Both studies will have major implications on the legality of existing designs which rely on current exemptions, which may be withdrawn or substances which may be banned.

ERA attended a Member State RoHS workshop organised by BERR (formerly the UK DTI) on 26 October 2007 to discuss options for improving the RoHS exemptions process. Applicants have experienced long periods of uncertainty with no indications of progress and the Commission has found it difficult to reach decisions because of the technical complexity of many of the requests. Steve Andrews of BERR will present the conclusions from the workshop at the next TAC meeting in November.

The Commission has recently awarded two study contracts to the Öko Institut; the review of all existing exemptions in the RoHS Directive Annex plus seven new requests and a study into the possibility for adding more substances to the current RoHS 6. The latter study forms part of the current review of the RoHS Directive that will eventually be amended. These studies will have profound implications to all sectors of the electronics industry including those that are currently excluded because the scope of RoHS could be changed to include many new product types.
It is now important for manufacturers to act swiftly to counter unacceptable changes. Once the Commission’s proposals are presented to the European Parliament and Council of Ministers, it will be much more difficult to make changes - so now is the time to act.

* In the Western world, phones made to last ten years typically are discarded after 18 months

* 105 million phones are thrown out in Europe every year. In Britain alone, about 15 million mobile phones are replaced each year

* There are nearly 50,000 network base stations in the UK

* The mobile industry in Britain accounts for about 0.7 per cent of CO2 emissions

* Each mobile subscriber is responsible for about 55 kg (120lb) of CO2 emissions a year

Well, here is my 50th blog. I hope that you have enjoyed my ramblings over the last year or so.

There is so much going on and, as Ernst & Young reported in blog number 49,
regulatory and compliance risk will be a major challenge for business in 2008.

If you look at what we have covered in this column throughout the year it highlights the diversity of directives.

Happy New Year to you all

2008 will witness the beginning of a significant period of green development that will impact our industry for years to come.

Among those of greatest importance during 2008:

• The first wave of implementing measures from the European Union (EU) Energy using Products (EuP) Directive requiring the reduction in energy consumption across a broad range of product categories.

• The EU REACH Regulations will kick into gear with a pre-registration period during the second half of the year and subsequent registration deadlines as the EU seeks greater control over the handling and use of many harmful substances.

According to Ernst & Young, regulatory and compliance risk is the greatest strategic challenge facing global businesses in 2008.

“The continually escalating burden, as well as ever more complex compliance challenges, means this is still the biggest business risk to be addressed” said a spokesperson. He went onto say “As companies become more and more global, compliance becomes an even greater challenge, forcing them to manage diverse regulations in different markets”.

Enough said!!

Directive Decoder

The first national seminar on hazardous materials management was held at the Bangalore Institute of Technology on February 4th and 5th.

The seminar was organised by the Academy of Certified Hazardous Materials Managers (ACHMM) – India Chapter and the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board.

The ACHMM is a professional organisation of hazardous material managers in the US, and the ACHMM-India Chapter was initiated in 2006.

The objective of ACHMM is to bring together the regulatory agencies, academia and industry to discuss problems related to hazardous materials management, foster fellowship, offer networking opportunities as well as training and educational programmes.

I have received one or two queries regarding PFOS recently.

Most Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) was originally produced in the USA by 3M. It was a key ingredient in Scotchgard, a fabric protector made by 3M, and numerous stain repellents. When 3M discovered how toxic it was they stopped making it with the result that it is now only used, via other sources, in applications where it is difficult to replace.

For regular readers of my blog I am pleased to advise of two new services.

All the latest information on the various directives I have to hand can be found at:

global-legislation.com

Also, you can send questions directly to me at:

glegislation@premierfarnell.com

I would be delighted if I can help you.

Directive Decoder

Funded by Yorkshire Forward, the Learning and Skills Council, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF), Electronics Yorkshire  (EYL) is a not for profit company whose board of directors is drawn from the region's electronics industry and who serve on an independent non-executive basis.

Their aim is to support and assist the growth of the electronics sector throughout Yorkshire and the Humber by:

• Providing an industry dedicated training centre delivering IPC and tailored courses to companies and individuals in the electronics sector;
• Maintaining a broad resource of some of the very latest leading edge equipment available in their technology centre for interested companies to access both for their own use and for training;
• Operating a Membership network for electronics businesses throughout the region, promoting collaboration and complimentary services so as to benefit individual companies and the sector as a whole.

Directive Decoder

Towards the end of 2008 we witnessed a significant increase in legislative activity.

The New Battery Directive came into force in September, the first Substances of Very High Concern were published by the European Chemicals Agency in October and, at the beginning of December, there were announcements from Brussels around proposed changes to the RoHS and WEEE Directives.

So, what can we expect during 2009?

ERA Technology is running more of its excellent courses during 2009 on topical legislative subjects. These include:

Complying with the eco design of the Energy using Products Directive (EuP) is on 17 June and 18 October.

RoHS in practice-how to maintain and demonstrate compliance to authorities and customers is on 23 April and 10 December.

Finally, REACH regulations-impact on equipment manufacturers and downstream chemical users is on 7 May.

For further details click here.

Directive Decoder

The UK Government has created a new Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) whose key role will be to build Britain's capabilities to compete in the global economy. The Department will be created by merging BERR (Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) and DIUS (Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills). This will create a single department committed to building Britain's future economic strengths.

Directive Decoder

You can now follow me on Twitter.....search on GaryNevison or just click here: http://twitter.com/garynevison and click the Follow buton

All the latest legislative snippets, news and comment as it happens.

See you there.

Directive Decoder

They say if you can't beat them, then join them!

You can now follow me on twitter for legislative discussions, polls, links to this site for the latest information and anything else you would like.

Follow me at (cut and paste this address) http://twitter.com/GaryNevison.

Directive Decoder

As we now live in a world of "social networking" you can follow my brief updates on any, or all, of the following:

FACEBOOK (Legislation Eye)

TWITTER (GaryNevison)

LINKEDIN (My Legislation Services Group)

If there is anywhere else that you would like to read my posts then drop me a line.

Please sign up to "follow" me or become a "fan" and join the legislative community.

Directive Decoder

Introduction

The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme forms part of the UK Government's drive towards a low-carbon economy. In its simplest form it is a cap-and-trade scheme for carbon emissions, similar to the European Union's ETS scheme, but focusing on smaller, less energy-intensive organisations.

Purpose

The purpose of the scheme is to encourage companies to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by making investments into energy efficient technologies, or to invest in on-site renewable electricity generation.

Scope

All organisations (including the government, schools etc.) that have electricity supplied that is covered by an half hourly meter (HHM) and that consumed more than 6,000MWh of electricity during 2008 (the base year) will be included in the scheme. These organisations should be contacted by the Environment Agency in the near future, to make them aware of their new obligations.

Organisations that did not consume 6,000MWh of electricity, but that are metered on a half-hourly basis will be required to make an information disclosure to the CRC.

Looking back on 2009 it was, without doubt, the biggest year of change since RoHS in 2006 with real momentum building and industry struggling to keep pace with the numerous environmental proposals.

While the year may have ended with concerns around the potential levels of antimony on the Christmas toy Mr Squiggle Go Go Hamster's nose and hair there had been more debate around toxic substances throughout the year.

The Design Engineer has had a lot to consider with proposals that would lead to many more products falling within scope, potentially more substance restrictions, a change in testing methodology and even a new geography with the first draft, some two years late, of the China RoHS - restriction of hazardous substances - "Catalogue".

If ever there was any doubt then 2009 was the year when industry realised that legislation would have a significant impact for many years to come. Some would say, it would engulf the electronics industry and the days of simply buying and selling products were gone forever, with safety and compliance information becoming a significant obligation.

For a prompt, free of charge, reply to your legislative questions:

glegislation@premierfarnell.com

Directive Decoder

For the fastest breaking news service sign up (free-of-charge) to follow me on Twitter

Then come back to the Directive Decoder blog for the full story.

Directive Decoder

With legislative advice hard to find and / or expensive send your questions direct to me for a prompt, free of charge reply.

Directive Decoder Free Q&A

Join my discussion group "Legislation Eye" on LinkedIn for regular updates, debate and networking.

Go to Linkedin.com then search for Legislation Eye

Directive Decoder

This industry leading guide has been updated and looks at the current status and likely impact on industry of RoHS, REACH, WEEE, Batteries, eco-design and many other pieces of regulation.

Read the full report here

Directive Decoder