...OEMs face several key challenges in developing an environmental compliance plan. To do it right, it will be critical for companies to develop a compliance roadmap and implement a structured environmental monitoring and compliance process....

...The electronics industry is at the forefront of a major change in global environmental law. Adoption of product-related environmental policies, often called "producer responsibility" policies, increases significantly the number of regulations that impact the industry....

...SIOUX FALLS, S.D.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 19, 2005--Electronic Systems, Inc. has announced that its RoHS program has achieved verification status and that its engineering and electronic assembly operations are in full compliance with the RoHS lead free directive established by the European Union (EU)....

...Coinciding with its VISIT 2005 in-house trade show, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, the leading European IT manufacturer, announced that all its SCENICVIEW Business Line display models meet the strict requirements of the EU's upcoming Restriction of certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive....

...NEC Electronics America, Inc. announced that its semiconductor manufacturing plant in Roseville, California, has received a WasteWise "Mid-Size Business Partner of the Year" award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This award recognizes NEC Electronics America's successful efforts to prevent and recycle waste and reduce the consumption of raw materials in the manufacturing process....

...Compliance deadlines touched almost every business sector and division in 2005. Think the worst is over? Think again: It looks like '06 and '07 will see even more activity, demanding a whole new level of monitoring and record-keeping technology....

...The standard IPC-1752, Materials Declaration Management sets forth electronic data formats and a standardized form to simplify information exchange concerning materials composition in a product....

...Solectron Corp. says 85% of its production capacity worldwide complies with the European Union’s Restriction on the Use of Hazardous Substances law that bans the use of lead and other hazardous substances. Solectron had established an environmental compliance leadership team in January 2004 to develop and implement a lead-free and RoHS-compliant transition program across the company's manufacturing sites worldwide....

...When the European Union would start to apply RoHS next July, Taiwan MB manufacturers all got ready for the regulations to take hold of this important market. Therefore, Asus, Gigabyte, and BenQ all planned to finish the verifications of related components and qualifications of suppliers....

...TAIPEI, Dec 27 Asia Pulse - The government will help 320 small- and medium-sized businesses next year improve their environmental protection so that their products will be acceptable to markets in the European Union (EU), the Ministry of Economic Affairs said Monday....

...In the past few months dozens of service-based companies in the electronics industry have rolled out tools and service to help OEMs, contract manufacturers (CM), distributors and component suppliers manage their environmental compliance information needs....

...The UK government must do more to raise consumer awareness of the need for recycling old electrical and electronic equipment, according to a survey commissioned by a consortium of electrical product manufacturers....

...The European Commission has launched a public consultation for stakeholders on a new set of 15 proposed substance application exemptions under the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive. Comments must be submitted by February 10, 2006....

...The International Electrotechnical Commission has decided not to publish a standard covering the marking and labeling of products designated as lead-free or RoHS compliant....

...Arizona manufacturers of semiconductors, electronic products and related components are spending millions of dollars to bring their production facilities into compliance with new guidelines required by many European countries....

..."EU Gone Wild" - Britain is facing the wrath of the European Union because barely a quarter of the estimated three million tons of waste it will throw away this Christmas will be recycled, it was reported. The Independent said the EU had become so "exasperated" at Britain's failure to improve its recycling rates that it has threatened legal action...London could find itself in the European courts as early as next month...

...The UK Government has issued its final guidelines implementing the European Commission’s Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS), and it looks as though the country has been more friendly to industry than some other jurisdictions in the European Union....

...Two recent articles in the electronics press have reported expert data and forecasts on the current status of RoHS implementation and the likely scenario for the next 6 months to July 2006....

...Human beings display a similar variety of reactions to change, throughout many aspects of endeavour. The most successful individuals are those who quickly embrace the change and prepare for it. Invariably, they will gain a significant advantage from it. On the other hand, there are those who try to ignore change, deny it, or simply take no action. In between these extremes there are those who nobly intend to "do the right thing" but cannot find the right time to act....

...The proposed new waste strategy seeks to cut waste generation and boost recycling and recovery through a new 'life-cycle' approach. But it leaves the thorny issue of recycling and prevention targets to EU states....

...Eircom has completed a hardware recycling effort while in the UK legislation mandating such actions, the WEEE Directive, is not yet law....

...As the clock ticks away, many people are becoming overwhelmed by WEEE and RoHS tasks. For technologists like myself, many of the RoHS tasks are perhaps challengeing, but at least understandable (e.g. qualifying a lead-free solder paste, developing a RoHS compliant BOM, concerns about tin whiskers, etc). When it comes to WEEE however, it may be difficult for many to "get their hands around" what the WEEE tasks even are....

...After significant controversy over marking standards options, the IEC has decided not to publish an International Standard for marking and labelling lead-free/RoHS products at all. Instead they will produce a Technical Specification with proposals for marking presence or non-presence of substances....

...A new cathode ray tube recycler in Scotland has announced its plans to begin taking in electronic waste early next year, despite the delay in implementation of the WEEE Directive....

...New draft waste proposals, published by the European Commission today, will result in more household rubbish going up in smoke and less being recycled, Friends of the Earth said today. The new draft 'Waste Framework Directive' sets the agenda for waste policy in the EU & UK. [Good Lord, here we go..]...

...Rade (UK) Ltd has been established to provide a cost effective product disassembly service to aid the recycling and recovery of electronic products in accordance with the WEEE directive. Our main focus is on the disassembly of CRT containing products - such as televisions and PC monitors, but we handle most categories of WEEE....

...The U.K. government has issued its final guidelines implementing the European Commission’s Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) in that nation, and it looks as though the country has been more friendly to industry than some other jurisdictions in the European Union. [Old News, New Commentary]...

...The TM501B becomes the first RoHS Compliant (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) E-MTA to achieve this industry certification....

...Infineon Technologies, STMicroelectronics, Philips Semiconductors and Freescale Semiconductor France have formed a group called E4 to help each other find the most appropriate and efficient solutions for complying with the European Union’s RoHS directive...

...Electronic News sat down with Mike Adami-Sampson, VP of product strategy, MatrixOne; David Bergman, VP of standards, technology and international relations, IPC; Marjory Craw-Ivanco, director of green services, global engineering services, Celestica; Phil de Guzman, manager of quality assurance, memory products, Toshiba America Electronic Components; Kirk Olund, manager, quality and reliability, Fairchild; and Steven Schultz, director, strategic planning and communications, Avnet to discuss the European Union’s RoHS directive, the industry’s progress and what will happen in the next seven months as the July 1, 2006 deadline nears....

...The survey by YouGov for the Recycling Producers' Industry Consortium (REPIC), the not-for-profit recyling body, shows that nearly half the population still throws out old kettles, irons and other small appliances with the household rubbish....

...Nexcom has launched a PIGMG single board computer (SBC), based on the Intel Pentium 4 processor, which has been designed to be fully ROHS compliant without sacrificing performance....

...Community groups have written to ministers demanding millions of pounds in compensation because of the latest delay in producer responsibility for waste electronics....

...Jon Godfrey, managing director of Lifecycle Services, added: "The legislation has started to lack credibility among resellers and my concern is that they’ll stop preparing for WEEE and then be caught off guard when the regulations finally come into force."...

...Fraunhofer ISIT have recently opened a lead-free competency centre in Itzehoe, Germany for use by companies needing to train employees in the new technology....

...All requirements - labels, registration and the establishment of a recycling network - associated with the European Union's Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive is on a country-by-country basis. While many countries have delayed implementation, labeling for each country went into effect on August 13, 2005. However, there is still a lot of confusion in the industry about what needs to be labeled. This includes determining if a product is classified as a WEEE product and where to place the label...

...CommScope, Inc., a world leader in cable and connectivity solutions, today announced that all enterprise cables now manufactured are in compliance with industry environmental regulations that are scheduled to become effective in mid-2006....

...Electronic Systems, Inc. has announced that its RoHS program has achieved verification status and that its engineering and electronic assembly operations are in full compliance with the RoHS lead free directive established by the European Union (EU)....

...To provide the necessary controlled processes for RoHS/WEEE compliant electronics design and manufacturing, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) and Electronics Manufacturing (and design) Service (EMS) providers must partner to develop product-based strategies. Tactics used should be customized depending on customer requirements. There will be three product categories introduced for this discussion....

...Several weeks ago I had a blog entry asking whether or not Microsoft's new Xbox 360 was RoHS compliant. Angela pointed me to a link where Xbox lead mechanical engineer Jeff Reents is interviewed. The following is an excerpt from the interview Re RoHS. I have to admit, I am impressed....

...Seminars, Webinars and Panel Discussions...

...RS, one of Europe's leading distributors of electrical, electronic, health & safety, mechanical and IT products, has expanded its support for the upcoming RoHS Directive with the opening of an online RoHS Knowledge Centre on its website to answer any questions on compliance issues. rswww.com/rohs....

...Proposal for additional exemptions...

...In one of the strangest twists in the industry’s move to green components, some of the companies hawking counterfeit parts are claiming their parts are Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) compliant. This bizarre development is occurring as OEMs are hip-deep in evaluating the level of trust they can put in their suppliers....

...The Environment Agency has said that it supported the decision by DTI to review progress in implementing the EU Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive, but encouraged Government to bridge the resulting funding gap for local authorities or risk losing the advantage so far from the volume of household WEEE already being separately collected for treatment at civic amenity sites....

...A group of leading solder vendors today issued a statement asserting "no evidence" exists demonstrating voiding has "any significant impact" on solder joint reliability....

...The directive was originally meant to become law in the UK in August this year but in March the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) announced it would be delayed until January 2006. Then in August the DTI announced that the legislation would be delayed until at least June 2006. As yet, no new time-frame for implementation has been decided. Instead, Wicks has committed to reviewing current progress, admitting that more time is needed to get the process right....

...Dries D'hooghe, senior director of product strategy and management at Agile Software Corporation, a leading provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions, is scheduled to present at the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers' (AHAM) RoHS Compliance Seminar....

...The British Retail Consortium (BRC) and leading producer responsibility scheme Valpak, who will be operating the WEEE Retail Compliance Scheme, have reacted to the DTI announcement that the proposed Regulations implementing the Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) Directive will be postponed further....

...Energy minister Malcolm Wicks confirmed today that the implementation of Europe's Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive is to be delayed....

...The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) which requires producers to pay for treatment and recycling or recovery of all WEEE products is to be delayed in the UK....

...The IPC Solder Products Value Council (SPVC) announced that it has prepared a research paper on solder joint voids for lead free solder. The research paper is based on the results of a three-year, million dollar reliability test program for the tin, silver, copper family of lead free alloys....

...UK-based manufacturers of electronics goods have welcomed the government's decision to once again delay new producer responsibility regulations for waste electronics....

...Dionics performed impact assessments for organisations in the IT, communication, test equipment, mass transit and security industries. Of the hundred products analysed, 78% were found to be exempt from RoHS and a further 67% fell outside the scope of WEEE....

...ACAL now has two RoHS-compliant, CompactPCI Intel Pentium-M system host sbcs available....

...The U.K.'s top energy official today suggested that the deadline for implementation of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive would be pushed back....

...The U.K. Government has decided to review progress on the implementation of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive and has indicated that a further delay will be needed. Energy Minister, Malcolm Wicks said, "This Government is firmly committed to sustainable development and recognises that effective implementation of the WEEE directive has a key role to play in achieving this goal....

...Manufacturers of passive components have been quicker than some of their counterparts in the semiconductor market to post really quite detailed information of RoHS compliance issues on their websites....

...My colleague Mike Fenner pointed out a website that compares the China and EU RoHS laws. As vague as many complain that the EU's RoHS and WEEE directives are, China RoHS may be more so....

...The electronics industry is facing a major challenge: with a few exceptions, components being introduced to the market must be lead free as of next July. A recently-established technology and competence center helps in the transition....

...An environmentally friendly PC that uses less energy has a lead-free mainboard, and comes with an "end-of-life" disposal coupon has been introduced by Computer Technology Link....

...With its new release of Interactive 6.5, RiverOne Inc. of Irvine, Calif. has entered the RoHS compliance market. The supply chain software company now provides tools to help OEMs, electronic manufacturing service (EMS) providers and component suppliers manage their material composition declarations....

..."Thriving in a RoHS/WEEE Environment" is the most comprehensive, attended seminar on the new EU directives out there today. We begin with the breadth and depth of last year's seminar series, and add all new information on this continuously evolving issue, including insights in to new alloys, explanations of China RoHS and its' impact on you, supplier updates, reliability updates and much, much more....

...UK Manufacturers may get another six-month reprieve to implement the EU’s WEEE legislation, if a report from B2B Compliance proves true. According to the report, the government is considering a proposal to delay the legislation until June 2006, with producer responsibility commencing in January 2007....

...As OEMs prepare for the July 1, 2006 RoHS deadline, many are struggling with higher manufacturing costs as well as changed manufacturing processes. Some contract manufacturers are charging more to manufacture compliant products, while difficulties with PCB cleanliness and high process temperatures throw up unexpected challenges in the final months before the compliance deadline....

...SGS has devised a modular RoHS compliance scheme for retailers and importers. When considering the complex process of manufacturing electrical and electronic goods and products it is imperative to have an effective quality management system in place, able to manage the whole supply chain from raw materials to components and via the end-production stage to shipment....

...Vishay Intertechnology Inc has added the RoHS-compliant 153 CRV series to its range of vertical SMD aluminum electrolytic capacitors. Devices in the 153 CRV series are compatible with lead (Pb)-free soldering processes and offer long operating life from 200,000 hours at 40C....

...Agile Announces General Availability of Agile 9.2...this latest release features enhanced overall functionality and expands on the solution's compliance, product portfolio, product collaboration and quality management modules....

...Latest information from Huang Jianzhong, the director of China RoHS at the Economic Operations Bureau of China's Ministry of Information Industry, Beijing suggests that the timeline for implementation is behind schedule....

...Electronics' embedded capacitor material, an advanced laminate, is now RoHS-compliant. The material can be made with a dielectric thickness down to 8 micrometers and a capacitance density of over 10 nF per sq. in. for embedding planar capacitance in circuit boards....

...In addition to the European Union's RoHS and WEEE directives, there are several emerging environmental regulations including the EU's Energy-using Products (EuP) and Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) directives as well as China RoHS and expected legislation from Taiwan, Japan and South Korea that the electronics industry will have to address in the near future, or deal with the possibility of severe penalties as a result of non-compliance....

...Irish businesses could be facing large fines and jail sentences if they breach new EU regulations due to come into effect in July 2006. Failure to comply with the new RoHS regulation will mean penalties for companies; at present, penalties being proposed include a EUR5,000 fine for first-time offenders, with potential prison sentences running up to 12 months....

...New from Electrolube at Productronica, LFFR is a lead free flux remover specially designed to work on boards produced using lead free processes....

...DTI minister Malcolm Wicks has confirmed that the government needs to hold more talks with industry over plans to bring in producer responsibility for waste electronics....

...Preston-based electronics recyclers Computer-Recycling.co.uk have officially opened a new recycling plant in Lancashire. The 50,000 sq ft site is split into several buildings, each containing different recycling equipment, including a new cathode ray tube recycling plant which will process around 50 computers and television monitors an hour....

...The UK is to delay the implementation of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive yet again due to difficulties in getting it right. A source close to the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI) said: "The fact that regulations have not appeared by now and that the DTI have not set a date for their appearance in Parliament is indicative of the difficulties."...

...Interview: Colin Holland speaks to David Sutcliffe, Sales Director of CKS, who explains the implications of WEEE and how the situation should be appoached....

...Although there are choices when it comes to lead-free alloy selection, only a few satisfy the needs in all three applications if a single alloy is required. Sn-Bi, SnAg and SAC (Tin-Silver-Copper) alloys can be used in all three operations....

...LARAC - which represents more than 350 council recycling officers across the country - said pushing back the start of producer responsibility for waste electronics could hit council budgets, which are already stretched as it is. An announcement is expected soon from the government on the state of play for new regulations introducing Europe's Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive into UK law...

...SMTA recognizes the importance of eliminating toxic materials in electronics manufacturing and supports research and development of non-toxic materials and technologies, while ensuring product quality without further harmful environmental or health risks....

...Sealevel Systems, Inc. announces the first RoHS-compliant low profile PCI digital I/O adapter, the PIO-24.LPCI. The board offers easy connection to industry-standard solid-state relay racks for monitoring and control of AC and DC signals....

...EDA vendor EMA Design Automation released a tool suite designed to help engineering teams create products complaint with the European Union's RoHS and WEEE directives. The Engineering Data Management (EDM) suite is a database management system that provides detailed control over all product design data, with specific emphasis on environmental compliance material content, according to EMA...

...Farnell InOne has opened an electronic design engineering (EDE) laboratory which will he sees as a U.K. centre for industry excellence and exploration. Based at the company's headquarters in Leeds, the EDE Lab will provide a hub for training and in-depth analysis on the latest industry issues as well as for new product demonstrations from the world's leading manufacturers....

...For most board manufacturers, the major change from RoHS will be the use of laminate materials that can withstand higher processing temperatures and different final finishes. "Until now, laminates with the ability to endure higher temperatures were not in great demand but because the RoHS-compliant materials behave differently, there will be a number of process changes necessary to effectively process panels with the higher thermal capacity," Garramone explained....

...Contax has concluded an exclusive agreement with Pillarhouse, the world's most advanced dedicated selective soldering manufacturer, to supply its systems exclusively in the UK and Benelux....

...A potentially massive delay looks set to be announced imminently by the DTI regarding new regulations on producer responsibility for WEEE. The UK is already five months late in establishing producer responsibility for waste electronics. Exact reasons for this serious setback are as yet unclear, but it could see the whole legislative process under Europe's WEEE Directive put back by as much as six months...

...Hewlett-Packard (HP) boosted its recycling rate by 17 per cent in 2005 and is advancing on its goal of recycling one billion pounds of material. This achievement is suggstive of the possibilities of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) as it applies to computer and electronics companies....

...Educational courses along with the technical conference will be held. IPC and JEDEC are seeking papers on any relevant subject...

...Compliance with EU and other environmental legislation for the management of IT product lifecycles and disposal is keeping the Rosettanet community busy....

...With the approach of the RoHS deadline, Electronics Weekly asks a number of component distributors how the plans of companies for compliance with the Directive is affecting purchasing practices in the supply chain...

...Fall '05 Release Dramatically Improves How Manufacturers Design, Create and Deliver Products to Market. The latest release of Arena's award-winning PLM service provides manufacturers of all sizes with an on-demand solution for even simpler collaboration with their community of suppliers; a comprehensive management solution to meet regulatory standards such as RoHS, WEEE, FDA, UL and FCC; and the flexibility to customize their PLM solution based on their unique business needs through a simple-to-use, point and click, web-based interface....

...Federal Electronics has introduced a portfolio of services designed to help original equipment manufacturers (OEM) convert and, where necessary, reengineer their products to comply with the European Union's RoHS directive....

...A new formulation of Pb-free solder wire is designed to minimise the leaching of soldering iron tips and reduce the cost of tip degradation common at higher lead-free process temperatures....

...MatrixOne, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions for the value chain(TM), today announced that it will be hosting a free half-day conference focused on the latest environmental compliance regulations and how electronics companies are affected by existing and newly emerging regulations as they relate to their product development lifecycles....

...Lincolnshire-based recycler Environcom has revealed plans to install a network of recycling facilities for electronic equipment across the UK and Ireland. The company is intending to install more than three million tonnes of recycling capacity by 2007, it said yesterday....

...It’s ironic in more ways than one that the UK government has pledged to cut red tape to help small businesses to actually conduct business...The government takes away with one hand, but gives with another, writes Sara Driscoll...

...The deadline is staring us straight in the face and what is being done about it? Not enough, soon enough....

...The SR37-LFM-48S from Almit Technology is a lead-free wire designed to reduce the leaching of soldering iron tips and minimize the cost of tip degradation found at higher lead-free processing temperatures....

...A new, state-of-the-art, lead-free no-clean solder paste that promotes wetting and minimizes defects with tin/silver/copper alloy soldering will be unveiled this spring by the Circuit Materials Division (CMD) of Heraeus. The new line of solder pastes the F640 Series will be introduced to the microelectronics industry during the annual APEX conference and exposition in Anaheim, California....

...An Electronics Weekly/Farnell InOne roundtable to debate the problems of RoHS and WEEE compliance discussed the contaminants in components, how to test for them and the best way to get rid of them....

...Solectron Corp. announced that it has achieved its compliance goal for the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS). The provider of electronics manufacturing and integrated supply chain services said that global sites representing 85 percent of its manufacturing capacity have successfully completed a qualification program for lead-free RoHS compliant manufacturing in line with the requirements outlined in the European Unions RoHS directive....

...The UK DTI has released the final and most comprehensive version of its Guidance Notes on RoHS implementation. This provides the best available information on the UK government's interpretation of the RoHS regulations and their application by UK companies. Although some of the information is based on the transposed UK regulation, much is of use to the wider community....

...Creating environmental laws for the electronics industry that are globally standardized would be the least painful path to green electronics. However, China's new RoHS legislation, though inspired by the European Union's RoHS directive, seems to diverge from that goal. Both directives apply to imported products and both enter into force on July 1, 2006, but any similarity ends here....

...These seminars have been posted on RoHSwell.com: (click headline to see full list)...

...As the electronics industry grapples with the coming RoHS deadline, new environmental compliance mysteries loom from China’s recently released environmental law. China issued its own RoHS-type directive in late October, leaving more questions than answers....

...The National Electronic Distributors Association (NEDA) will present an industry summit on January 19th in San Jose to discuss lead free issues: Negotiating the Economic, Legal and Logistic Challenges of RoHS/Lead Free Compliance. This meeting is a follow-up to two successful summits held earlier in the year. The goal is to foster discussion among all segments of the electronic components channel....

...The National Electronic Distributors Association (NEDA) will host "Negotiating the Economic, Legal and Logistic Challenges of RoHS/Lead-free Compliance," on January 19, 2006, in San Jose, Calif....

...The EU directive for the control of production chemicals, known as Reach, is expected to have negative repercussions on the Maltese economy according to industry leaders. The Director General of the Federation of Industry, Wilfred Kenely told Business Today that from an administrative, technology and human resources point of view, the directive will place a greater stress than is necessary on the "viability, competitiveness and innovative development of industry."...

...RoHS is having a fundamental impact on the electronics industry. Legally it applies within the EU only, however RoHS is fast becoming a world-wide 'standard' due to the global nature of the industry....

...As I look at the cover of that issue of PC Magazine, I count 7 electronic devices and I count hundreds on the pages within the magazine. My guess is that only a few percent are RoHS compliant. In 7 short months, none of these non-compliant components can be sold in Europe or China. It's a scary thought....

...Manufacturers are facing a huge headache once the EU’s RoHS and WEEE Directives take effect to demonstrate that their products conform with the regulations. Ray Scruby of Fischer Instrumentation looks at a practical strategy to prove conformity...