Exceptions slip through the RoHS and WEEE net

Statistics from Dionics Environmental Division for the third quarter reveal some unexpected results with regard to the RoHS and WEEE Directives.

At first glance, the imminent RoHS and WEEE Directives appear all encompassing, covering practically every modern day electrical gadget, from microwave ovens to mobile phones, with perhaps a small number of specialised exemptions.

However, statistics from Dionics Environmental Division for the third quarter reveal some unexpected results with regard to the reach of the legislation.

During this period, impact assessments were performed 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.

"These results may be biased as some of our international clients are often desperately seeking a legitimate exemption, but don't have the legislative expertise to justify and validate such conclusions", said Paul Chinery, Managing Director of specialist solution provider Dionics.

"But clearly, they do not all originate from the obvious exempt manufacturing communities, such as military or the medical industry".

Of the two Directives, RoHS is perhaps the easiest to comprehend, although its implementation is somewhat more challenging.

What is particularly concerning is the volume of enquiries Dionics receives from companies that have only just discovered the legislation.

Chinery admits: "Any organisation that is at the first reading stage will find it extremely difficult to comply within the legal time frame".

WEEE, on the other hand, is a different matter altogether.

Despite a good deal of press coverage over the past 12 months, the directive continues to baffle even the most intelligent organisations in terms of its legislative detail.

The situation isn't helped by the absence of any real comprehensive guidance, other than the ageing brochures on government agency websites, which are typically too generic to be of any real use.

To prove this point, Chinery recently posed a complex WEEE question to four European agencies with lead responsibility for WEEE.

"I had already answered a supply chain enquiry for a client, but wanted to experience the level of responsiveness a typical OEM might expect to receive from the authorities".

"Of the four agencies approached, two simply didn't respond".

"The third would only answer my question having first parted with Eur 180 (US $200 or GBP 120) whilst the forth simply redirected me back to the aging brochures on their website", commented Chinery.

"It's no wonder that all but the very largest multinationals have difficulty in implementing a truly comprehensive, international strategy".

One of the critical details within the WEEE Directive that is often overlooked is that registration deadlines in many European countries have already passed.

Companies selling products into these markets where the producer has not registered, provided financial guarantees, implemented a take back scheme and correctly labelled product may be trading illegally.

For example, Germany will prohibit imports of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) next month (November) from producers that have not registered with the appropriate local authorities.

Once the realisation of producer responsibility becomes clear, the potentially huge economic penalties for noncompliance may have a far wider impact than any environmental benefit "green" electronics may introduce.

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