The Directive on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment 2002/95/EC, commonly referred to as the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive or RoHS) was adopted in February 2003 by the European Union. The RoHS directive took effect on 1 July 2006, and is required to be enforced and become law in each member state. This directive restricts the use of six hazardous materials in the manufacture of various types of electronic and electrical equipment. It is closely linked with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) 2002/96/EC, which sets collection, recycling and recovery targets for electrical goods and is part of a legislative initiative to solve the problem of huge amounts of toxic e-waste.
RoHS is often referred to as the lead-free directive, but it restricts the use of the following six substances: lead, mercury, cadmium, and chromium and flame retardants such as polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) or polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) to be substituted by safer alternatives." Military and defense electronics were initially considered exempted by exclusion. However, in reality, these systems have been directly impacted through their use of Commercial-Off-The-Shelf components and the component manufacturers’ efforts to deliver products conforming to the EU directives. Additional RoHS information can be found at http://www.rohs.eu/english/index.html
The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive) is the European Community directive 2002/96/EC on waste electrical and electronic equipment, which, together with the RoHS Directive 2002/95/EC, has been in force since February 2003. The legislation provides for the creation of collection schemes where consumers return their used e-waste free of charge. The objective of these schemes is to increase the recycling and/or re-use of such products. The directive imposes the responsibility for the disposal of waste electrical and electronic equipment on the manufacturers of such equipment. Those companies should establish an infrastructure for collecting WEEE, in such a way that "Users of electrical and electronic equipment from private households should have the possibility of returning WEEE at least free of charge." In addition, the companies are compelled to use the collected waste in an ecologically friendly manner, either by ecological disposal or by reuse/refurbishment of the collected WEEE. The URL below provides firsthand review of the WEEE initiatives and updated information as provided by the European Union.
