Spring 2007
News and Events
The team at Omni Graphics sends their best wishes to Ross Howitt for a happy retirement after 6 years of service. Company president Jac Kroeker will be available for site visits and to deal with any sales or technical concerns that arise.While Omni Graphics transitions into a new sales structure, you can expect a new, less invasive email and telephone marketing strategy. We encourage all of our customers to call us at Omni regarding technical issues.
If you have an opinion or advice regarding this newsletter, please contact us via email at jac@omnigraph.com subject "newsletter".
Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive
The Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) 2002/95/EC was adopted in February 2003 by the European Union. The RoHS directive took effect on July 1, 2006, but is not a law; it is simply a directive. This directive restricts the use of six hazardous materials in the manufacture of various types of electronic and electrical equipment. It is closely linked with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) 2002/96/EC which sets collection, recycling and recovery targets for electrical goods and is part of a legislative initiative to solve the problem of huge amounts of toxic e-waste. In casual conversation, it is often pronounced "ROSH", or "Row Haws", except in Europe, where it is pronounced "Rose".Details
Each European Union member state will adopt its own enforcement and implementation policies using the directive as a guide. Therefore, there could be as many different versions of the law as there are states in the EU. RoHS is often referred to as the "lead-free" directive, but it restricts the use of the following 6 substances:PBB and PBDE are flame retardants used in some plastics. The maximum concentrations are 0.1% (except for Cadmium which is limited to 0.01%) by weight of homogeneous material. This means that the limits do not apply to the weight of the finished product, or even to a component, but to any single substance that could (theoretically) be separated mechanically - for example, the sheath on a cable or the tinning on a component lead.
As an example, a radio comprises a case, screws, washers, a circuit board, speakers etc. A circuit board comprises a bare PCB, ICs, resistors, switches etc. A switch comprises a case, a lever, a spring, contacts, pins etc. The contact might comprise a copper strip with a surface coating.
Everything that can be identified as a different material must meet the limit. So if it turns out that the case was made of plastic with 2300 ppm (0.23%) PBB used as a flame retardant, then the entire radio would fail the requirements of the directive. Note that batteries are not included within the scope of RoHS, therefore NiCd, Lead-acid and Mercury batteries are permitted despite the use of restricted substances.
The directive applies to equipment as defined by a section of the WEEE directive. These are:
- Large and small household appliances.
- IT equipment.
- Telecommunications equipment (although infrastructure equipment is exempt in some countries)
- Consumer equipment.
- Lighting equipment - including light bulbs.
- Electronic and electrical tools.
- Toys, leisure and sports equipment.
- Automatic dispensers.
RoHS does not apply to fixed industrial plant and tools. Compliance is the responsibility of the company which puts the product on the market, as defined in the Directive; components and sub-assemblies are not responsible for product compliance. Of course, given the fact that the regulation is applied at the homogeneous material level, data on substance concentrations needs to be transferred through the supply chain to the final producer. An IPC standard has recently been developed and published to facilitate this data exchange, IPC-1752 http://www.ipc.org/ipc-175x. This standard is enabled through two Adobe forms which are free to use.
RoHS applies to these products in the EU whether made within the EU or imported. Certain exemptions apply, and these are updated on occasion by the EU.
There is also legislation in China (often referred to as "China RoHS") that has similar restrictions. Unlike EU RoHS (products are included unless specifically excluded), there will be a list of products to which the regulations apply (products are excluded unless specifically included). There are some products which probably will be included for China RoHS which are not in scope for EU RoHS - e.g. radar systems. However, the details of the requirements and list of included products have not been finalized by the Chinese government. The legislation is scheduled to take effect 1 March 2007.
Japan does not have any direct legislation dealing with the RoHS substances, but its recycling laws have spurred the Japanese manufacturers to move to a lead-free process. These companies have also been proactive in phasing out other harmful materials which will, in effect, make their products RoHS compliant.
In addition, California has passed "SB 20: Electronic Waste Recycling act of 2003". This law probits the sale of electronic devices after January 1, 2007 which are prohibited from being sold under the EU directive. Other US states and cities are debating whether to adopt similar laws.
Criticism
The expense of compliance, especially to cottage industry, and impact on product quality are cited as criticisms of the directive. Restricting lead content in solders for electronics requires expensive retooling of the assembly lines and different coatings for the leads of the electronic parts. The alternatives to the solders typically have higher melting points (up to 260 °C, instead of just 215 °C), requiring different materials for chip packagings and for some circuitboards; the overheating may also affect reliability of semiconductors designed for the older temperatures. The alternative solders are also harder, resulting in slow development of cracks (instead of plastic deformation, as the softer Sn-Pb solder does) because of thermal expansion and contraction as some parts heat up and cool down during operation, thus significantly impairing long-term reliability and device lifetime.[citation needed] Another problem that lead-free solders face is the growth of tin whiskers. These strands of tin can grow and make contact with an adjacent trace, developing a short circuit. Tin whiskers have already been responsible for at least one failure at a nuclear power plant. [1] Some countries therefore tend to exempt medical and telecommunication infrastructure products from the legislation. [2] There are no de minimus exemptions e.g. for micro-businesses, meaning that some cottage industries have had to close down, citing the cost of compliance.[3]
The US EPA has published a life cycle analysis which compares lead-free and lead solder in terms of environmental impact.[4] Essentially, the lead-free alternatives appear to have a more negative impact on the environment than the leaded solders. Another life-cycle assessment [5] by IKP, University of Stuttgart, comes to the same result.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restriction_of_Hazardous_Substances_Directive"
RoHS and the Environment at Omni Graphics
Omni Graphics has had the capabilities to produce a lead free PCB since 1995. If clients want a tin/lead final finish, that is also still available. Having worked with lead-free finishes for over 10 years, many of the kinks that any new process brings have been ironed out, allowing us to bring more consistent quality to our product. We are also the only Vancouver-based manufacturer to offer white-tin lead-free PCB production.
We have always been conscious of our impact on the environment. In addition to developing lead-free technologies long before there was a global call for them, we also treat waste water for environmental compliance. Generally, a manufacturer would buy a chemical solution to treat high ph waste, and purchase another solution to treat low ph waste. At the end of the day, there is a greater number of treated chemicals being released back into the environment.
At Omni Graphics, instead of introducing new chemicals to treat existing waste, we have always used our own waste products against each other, diluting the high ph with the low ph and creating a neutral solution. This leaves a much smaller negative footprint on the environment.
For more information
If you would like more information about the RoHS Directive, how it may affect your products, or how Omni Graphics can assist you in becoming RoHS compliant through production of lead-free PCBs, please contact Jac Kroeker via email (click here to send) or at (604) 276-9717.
© 2007 Omni Graphics Ltd. with sources from Wikipedia. Back to Newsletter Index.