General Information on the RoHS and WEEE directives

Relevance of the RoHS and WEEE directives to HMS
Products listed in categories 1-7 and 10 in the WEEE directive are covered by the ROHS directive. Accordingly, the products and components manufactured and supplied by HMS Industrial Networks are not covered by the RoHS directive, which is why there is no legal demand on HMS to comply with the RoHS directive when it enters into force on the 1st of July 2006.

RoHS and WEEE directives Overview
The RoHS directive 2002/95/EC, as well as the WEEE directive 2002/96/EC, aim to decrease the risk for discharge of substances harmful to life and environment.

RoHS means Restriction of Hazardous Substances and regulates the use of six ecologically harmful substances. The RoHS directive states that from the 1st of July 2006, new electrical and electronic equipment put on the market shall not contain lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium and two brominated flame retardants (PBB and PBDE).

The directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) targets the recycling of electronic equipment, mainly with regards to consumer and IT products. The focus on consumer products comes from the fact that these products are being manufactured in very high volumes. Reducing hazardous substances in these products will make a big impact. Furthermore, these categories represent products with relatively short lifecycles.

The WEEE directive covers the following 10 product categories:
1. Large household appliances (eg. fridges, washing machines, electric ovens)
2. Small household appliances (eg. vacuum cleaners, toasters, irons, clocks, scales)
3. IT and telecommunications equipment (eg. computers, photocopiers, telephones)
4. Consumer equipment (eg. televisions, video recorders, hi-fi equipment)
5. Lightning equipment (eg. fluorescent lamps, discharge lamps)
6. Electrical and electronic tools (eg. drills, sewing machines, lawnmowers, with the exception of large-scale stationary industrial tools)
7. Toys, leisure and sports equipment (eg. video games and consoles, train sets)
8. Medical devices (eg. radiotherapy equipment, pulmonary ventilators)
9. Monitoring and control instruments (eg. thermostats, control panels)
10. Automatic dispensers (eg. drinks machines)

Click here for more information regarding the RoHS directive.
Click here for further information regarding the WEEE directive.