Evaluating RoHS: What Works and What Doesn’t

By Kelly Scanlon, director, EHS policy and research The European Union’s Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive, known as RoHS, aims to protect human health and the environment and maximize recovery of certain hazardous substances after their use. How well is the RoHS Directive working? We’re about to find out. Specifically, there are several opportunities between now and December to express feedback to the European Commission regarding the existing directive, the methodology for exemptions, and whether the list of restricted substances should be altered. IPC is coordinating input from the electronics manufacturing industry, aiming to influence future rules in a way that protects human health, the environment, and industry competitiveness. If your company uses substances that are on the RoHS list, we want to hear from you. Please check out this IPC document, which summarizes four activities that IPC is leading to collect and submit the industry’s input. This is an exciting time to rethink how chemical and product policies can help us to make electronics – and the world – better. Reach out to me if you have experiences with the EU RoHS Directive that you would like to share. By the way, we invite you to learn more about these opportunities in an upcoming IPC EHS Tech Ed webinar on 14 November 2019.