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 RoHS:
- Fixed installations
- Large-scale stationary industrial tools
- Monitoring and control instruments, including those used in
industrial installations (undergoing review during 2006)
Various guidelines have been published to assist manufacturers
and their customers to decide whether their products are within the
scope of RoHS . Such guidelines are not exact definitions of the
law, but they are the best available indications of its intended
application. These confirm that variable speed drives are outside
the scope.
Control Techniques manufacturing plant is approved to the
environmental standard ISO 14001, which includes an assessment of
the environmental impact of its products. Known hazardous
substances are avoided wherever practicable. For example, all major
plastic parts use flame retardants which are free of halogens.
The substitution of lead-free solder for the long-established
tin-lead alloy is a major step which requires careful
consideration. The experience does not yet exist to establish the
long-term reliability of lead-free soldering processes sufficiently
for their use in industrial manufacturing equipment or other
equipment where an operating life of at least ten years is
expected.
Many of the components used in Control Techniques products are
already free of lead, but the assembly process uses tin-lead
solder. Control Techniques is carrying out trials and participating
in joint research activities with other Emerson companies, with the
objective of ensuring that the necessary reliability 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
21 February 2006