Why Comply with RoHS and WEEE?
The RoHS and WEEE directives are shaping up to have the largest global impact of any environmental regulation ever. The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive (WEEE) is already in force as of 13 August 2005. The Restriction of Hazardous Substances directive (RoHS) will take effect 1 July 2006. Both impact electrical appliances and electronic products sold in European markets. While RoHS carries some exemptions, the global supply chain is effectively demanding full compliance across the board.
If your business is in the affected industries, you will likely face compliance requirements. Even if you do not sell directly into European markets, some of your customers might do so. They will pass their compliance requirements down to you. The rest of this article will help explain more about the regulations, their scope and impact, and what you can do to protect and grow your business in this new, greener, business environment.
For an overview of WEEE and the global supply chain, read Unraveling WEEE, The EU's 2005 E-Waste Regulation, and Just Why You Should Care by Alan Scroope and Anne Patterson.
The changes are real - the directives are law in most EU nations. Many of your competitors have already converted to compliant products. Which group are you in? Read What Sticks and What Doesn't by Ed Sperling to find out.
The movement is global. RoHS and WEEE are just the beginning. Find out who else is playing in Ready or not, environmental laws are coming by Jeff Chappell.
Being shut out of markets is a very real consequence of ignoring the new regulations. In a pre-RoHS spat with Dutch regulators Sony absorbed over US $90 million in lost PlayStation sales in Europe. The WEEE laws are already in effect, and RoHS is approaching quickly. The economic consequences are so severe that government bodies are jumping in to help educate businesses. NPL and UK business group offering help to small businesses.
In the US, NIST is hosting a workshop to help manufacturers reach compliance.
Consultants can help any business catch up. Read this interview with Barry Holland, managing director of WEEE Audit Ltd.
The global supply chain is becoming compliant. Component manufacturers are changing their designs to eliminate the substances banned by RoHS. This affects products that are not planned for RoHS compliance. Find out what could happen to spares for existing products in Even spares are affected by RoHS by Rob Spiegel.
Compliance is achievable at reasonable cost. It is a myth that RoHS-WEEE compliance will cost 10% of all future product sales. A study by Technology Forecasters estimates a one-time cost of 2% to 3% of cost of goods sold.
Costs come from many areas, and ultimately, your business is either in or out. Read The Cost of Compliance by Suzanne Deffree.
Risks, though greater, can be managed according to Rob Spiegel in Managing the Risk in RoHS Compliance.
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Additional Resources
RoHSwell.com - News, commentary and organized links to valuable resources for your efforts to comply with RoHS, WEEE and other green regulations.
NIST - National Institute of Standards and Technology is offering help to businesses struggling to comply with RoHS and WEEE.
News Feeds
An RSS news feed is a spam-free way to get the latest news on almost any topic imaginable. At last count there were three RoHS-WEEE focused news feeds available.
RoHSwell News - Original commentary, observations and opinion from RoHSwell.com.
Compliance News - A voluminous sampling of industry articles related to RoHS, WEEE and compliance issues. Updated once or twice per week.
Rohs-News - Another industry news sampler in the same vein as Compliance News. Updated several times per week.
RSS Resources
The RSS news feed itself is just a specially formatted text file - not particularly easy for people to read. Fortunately, RSS readers are abundant and free. Here is one I have used at RoHSwell.
FeedReader - simple reader for Windows - installs quickly and easily - very easy to use.
Here is a list of many other readers for various operating systems.
Readers and reviews
