...Discrepancies in recently published WEEE collection data have prompted a plastics recycler to raise concerns over the responsible recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment amid fears that much of the UK's waste is being shipped abroad.... more...

...A survey which found that 35% of local authorities expect to either review or change their current working relationships with WEEE producer compliance schemes in the near future has prompted a response from within the sector.... more...

...The European organization charged with collecting and collating comments to the latest RoHS exemption list has scheduled a series of meetings to discuss the preliminary input with stakeholders.... more...

...A survey of OEMs, electronics manufacturing services (EMS) providers and component manufacturers finds that initial compliance to the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) initiative has cost the electronics industry $32 billion. More than 200 companies were surveyed by the Technology Forecasters of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). The study reported that the average cost per company was $2.64 million to achieve initial compliance, and another $482,000 to maintain annual maintenance. Total compliance costs for the industry total 1.1% of industry revenue, according to the study.... more...

...Dr. Jennie Hwang will address BGA/CSP/WLP Lead-free Reliability and for Harsh Environment Electronics in San Diego, May 14. In compliance with global RoHS and in an effort to maximize reliability, Dr. Hwang leverages on the confluence of her in-depth knowledge and real-world production experience to address lead-free reliability in two separate sessions.... more...

...The European Union has launched a public consultation on a review of its Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive, with a new mandatory collection target expected before the end of the year. The revision comes five years after the WEEE Directive was adopted into European law, but just months after the legislation, which aims to promote producer responsibility for the recycling and reuse of WEEE, was finally implemented in the UK (see letsrecycle.com story).... more...

...For those navigating a business landscape that includes the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) and other lead-free regulations, being an exempt manufacturer may sound like a relief. But for those companies whose product categories fall within the scope of the RoHS directive - which includes medical, military, industrial monitoring and control, automotive and telecommunications products - finding items such as tin-lead terminated parts in a lead-free world is just as much work.... more...

...The government has announced that it will make a big push this summer to increase consumer awareness of waste electronics and electrical equipment recycling to help boost the WEEE recycling rate. Initial figures for the six months to December 31 2007 suggest that the UK is achieving a collection rate in the region of six kilogrammes per head of population, a figure that is well above the EU WEEE Directive's target for four kilograms (see letsrecycle.com story).... more...

...A survey of OEMs, electronics manufacturing services (EMS) providers and component manufacturers finds that initial compliance to the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) initiative cost the electronics industry $32 billion. The study by Technology Forecasters for the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) says the average cost per company was $2,640,000 to achieve initial compliance and another $482,000 for annual maintenance. Total compliance cost for the industry totals 1.1% of industry revenue, according to the study.... more...

...A six month project undertaken by C-Tech Innovation and London Remade has calculated that more than 890,000tonne of WEEE is being generated by businesses in the UK. London is said to generate 15% of this.... more...

...A recipe for making "compliance data management" an integral part of your company’s daily business processes. Date: April 30, 2008... more...

...A recent six-month project with recycling consultancy firm London Remade calculated the levels of business-to-business Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) generated in London each year... more...

...Last month, I wrote a story on e-waste recycling and Greenpeace pressures on the electronics supply chain (see "Greenpeace 'trash talks' Philips"). You, our EDN readers, clicked away on it and made it one of the most read articles across our Web site for March. It was the latest in a series of articles I’ve written on Greenpeace and the group’s views of electronics OEMs (EOEM). The clicks it garnered are not new for such EDN coverage. I’d love to say the story’s traffic results were because of my sparkling wit, stellar reporting, and ability to convey news in a clear, concise, and complete manner, but I don’t flatter myself - well, at least not that much.... more...

...About two years ago it appeared that SAC305 (3.0% silver, 0.5% Cu, the balance tin) was becoming the de-facto standard for Pb-Free assembly. With the increased need for shock resistance in consumer products such as mobile phones and iPod type devices, SAC305 is starting to lose favor.... more...

...WEEE producer compliance schemes are meeting the Environment Agency today (April 10), after discovering that data issues could mean they have to buy extra collection evidence to meet their market share obligations, writes Nick Mann.... more...

...UK companies are still not appreciating the implications of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive and continue to dispose of waste through traditional waste management channels, according to new research.... more...

...Environmentally friendly electronics is now a fact of life on a global design and manufacturing basis. Complying with legislation from a design and manufacturing viewpoint has been found to be beset with a number of hurdles, from component compliance through laminate suitability, to manufacturing process during product bring up. This course guides project teams through the selection and certification process required for materials to be used for RoHS and JIG compliant products. This course enables the team to pinpoint the right questions to ask of component and materials suppliers and provides a toolbox that will, when followed, enable fast introduction of RoHS and other compliance standards.... more...

...This is a question I’ve been asked many times about the ROHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) directive. In fact, this very subject can cause considerable emotion, and politics often raises its head when industry challenges the basis of ROHS. The ROHS directive was originally bolted on to the WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directive. The idea was to eliminate hazardous substances from equipment which, in turn, would make recycling easier at end-of-life. This has been partially the case as recovering lead from WEEE is quite easy, although cadmium and mercury have proved more of a problem.... more...

...The ultimate objective for going green is to reduce operational costs and increase the efficiency of your IT infrastructure. We tell you how to do that with inputs from144 CIOs on what they've already done in green IT and what they plan to do in the near future... more...

...The first quarterly meeting of an independent group advising the government on WEEE recycling will be held tomorrow (April 3), with data reporting issues a key point on the agenda. The body will examine progress on implementing WEEE regulations in the UK. The body will examine progress on implementing WEEE regulations in the UK Members of the WEEE Advisory Body (WAB) will meet in London to discuss a number of matters relating to the regulations on waste electronics and electrical equipment.... more...

...An independent group set up to advise the government on the implementation of the EU waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) directive, is to make its first report today (April 3rd). The WEEE Advisory Board (WAB), made up of 13 members, will meet to discuss regulation and recommendations to the European Commission for the upcoming review of existing European legislation.... more...

...On April 17 2005, the Millstone nuclear generating plant in Connecticut shut down when a circuit board monitoring a steam pressure line short-circuited. In 2006, a huge batch of Swatch watches, made by the eponymous Swiss company, were recalled at an estimated cost of $1bn. In both cases, "tin whiskers" - microscopic growths of the metal from soldering points on a circuit board - were blamed for causing the problems.... more...

...The Association of Cities and Regions for Recycling and Sustainable Resource Management (ACR+), an international network promoting recycling, found widely varying differences in the way legislation on waste electrical and electronic (WEEE) has been interpreted in different countries. At a meeting of ACR+'s WEEE Public Interest Network, members heard results of the survey into the implementation of the WEEE Directive in 13 member states. The survey found that introduction of the directive has been late, inconsistent and very diverse.... more...

...Manufacturers have recently been faced with an onslaught of new regulatory pressures, most notably material compliance regulations that are aimed at reducing the amount of hazardous materials contained in new products and ensuring that these materials are recyclable at the end of the product lifecycle. Under new regulations from Europe - and equally challenging initiatives emerging in California, China and Korea - manufacturers must implement processes to collect, integrate, analyze and report detailed materials and substance data related to all new products.... more...

...Views are being sought from councils and waste management firms on the implementation of the WEEE Directive into UK law. Producer compliance scheme ERP - the European Recycling Platform - has commissioned an online survey to unearth stakeholder views of the WEEE Directive, and its likely long-term impact.... more...

...GREENGUARD Environmental Institute (GEI), the nation's largest certifier of chemical emissions from building products and furnishings, announces the expansion of its certification efforts to include computers and other electronic devices. As part of its expansion, GEI is also pleased to announce GREENGUARD Certification of Lenovo's M57/M57P "Eco", the first computing device to attain this certification.... more...

...evertiq has listed all substances that might be included in the revised and more rigorous RoHS directive, introduced later this year.... more...

...With the industry still reeling in some circles from the after-shocks of the RoHS Directive, a proposed list of nearly 50 additional substances has touched off an uproar over Europe's apparent desire to obliterate modern electronics. In the latest volley, IPC is calling on the organization charged with assessing potentially hazardous substances for possible inclusion in supplemental legislation to the RoHS Directive to table its efforts until further scientific evidence is available to support a ban.... more...

...An email forum for discussing tin whisker issues and research has been created and is up and running. The forum, also known as a listserv, came from discussions among numerous engineers interested in mitigating potential risks to high reliability products. To subscribe to the list, sending an email to tinwhiskers-request@freelists.org with "subscribe" in the subject field.... more...