The impact of lead-free legislation exemptions on the electronics industry

The European Union's Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment legislation requires manufacturers to reduce the disposal waste of electronic products by reuse, recycling, and other forms of recovery. To enhance the possibilities and economic profitability of recycling, elimination of hazardous materials from the electrical and electronic equipments was proposed under the supplementary directive, the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment. This directive bans lead and other hazardous substances in electronics products by July 2006. However, a number of exemptions indicated in these legislations could impact different industry sectors and product categories. In this paper, the underlying basis of the legislation and the various exemptions are presented. The relevance and significance of the exemptions to the electronics industry is then analyzed and recommendations are given.