RoHS Compliance
What is RoHS?
The RoHS Directive stands for "the restriction of the use of
certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic
equipment". This Directive bans the placing on the EU market of new
electrical and electronic equipment containing more than the agreed
levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium,
polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ether
(PBDE) flame retardants. Manufacturers need to understand the
requirements of the RoHS Directive to ensure that their products,
and their components, comply.
Control Techniques Strategy
European Directive 2002/95/EC of January 2003 requires that a
number of substances, including lead, cadmium, hexavalent chromium
and some bromine-based flame retardants, must be eliminated from a
range of electrical and electronic products by July 2006.
The following categories of electrical equipment are outside the
scope of this current European (RoHS) Directive:
- Fixed installations
- Large-scale stationary tools
- Monitoring and control instruments (listed under Category 9)
including those used in industrial installations (undergoing review
during 2006)
- Spare parts for equipment already in use
Category 9 of the directive covers Monitoring and Control
Instruments, and according to advice given to Control Techniques by
the UK Government RoHS body, drives are currently outside the scope
of this European Directive, however, Category 9 itself is under
review by an EU Commission and it seems probable that drives will
be required to comply sometime after 2010.
Irrespective of this possible timing, Control Techniques is already
working to reach RoHS compliance on a range of its drive products
as soon as possible. This involves close liaison and audit of
suppliers’ RoHS compliant components as well as significant changes
to our own product design and manufacturing processes.
Many of the components used in Control Techniques products are
already free of lead (and other hazardous materials listed in the
Directive) however the assembly process traditionally uses tin-lead
solder. Control Techniques is carrying out trials and participating
in joint research activities with other Emerson companies and CALCE
(University of Maryland, USA) with the objective of ensuring that
the necessary product lifetime can be achieved with lead-free
solder. Conversion to the lead-free process will be carried out
when this objective has been achieved, and in accordance with the
relevant legislation.
Control Techniques Ltd
August 2006