RoHS Directive

• 1. Issued by / date / date of implementation
• 2. Type of legislation
• 3. General purpose
• 4. Substitution relevant paragraphs
• 5. Assessment of relevance for substitution
• 6. Link to the legal text
• 7. Further information

1. Issued by / date / date of implementation

EU / June 2011 / January 2013 / last amendment 2015

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2. Type of legislation

European Union directive that must be implemented into national law and enforced in the member states.

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3. General purpose

The aim of the Directive is to harmonize the legislation in the Member States concerning the restriction and use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (EEE). The directive is intended to contribute to the protection of human health and the environment, as well as to the safe recovery of hazardous substances and disposal of electrical and electronic equipment that has reached the end of its product life.

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4. Substitution relevant paragraphs

Article 2 + Annex I

Scope

1. Large household appliances.
2. Small household appliances.
3. IT and telecommunications equipment.
4. Consumer equipment.
5. Lighting equipment.
6. Electrical and electronic tools.
7. Toys, leisure and sports equipment.
8. Medical devices.
9. Monitoring and control instruments including industrial monitoring and control instruments.
10. Automatic dispensers.
11. Other EEE not covered by any of the categories above.

Article 4 + Annex 4

Prevention

1. Member States shall ensure that EEE placed on the market, including cables and spare parts for its repair, its reuse, updating of its functionalities or upgrading of its capacity, does not contain the substances listed in Annex II.

2. For the purposes of this Directive, no more than the maximum concentration value by weight in homogeneous materials as specified in Annex II shall be tolerated. The Commission shall adopt, by means of delegated acts in accordance with Article 20 and subject to the conditions laid down in Articles 21 and 22, detailed rules for complying with these maximum concentration values taking into account, inter alia, surface coatings

6. Paragraph 1 shall not apply to the applications listed in Annexes III and IV.

Article 5

Adaptation to scientific and technical progress

1. For the purposes of adapting Annexes III and IV to scientific and technical progress, and in order to achieve the objectives set out in Article 1, the Commission shall adopt by means of individual delegated acts in accordance with Article 20 and subject to the conditions laid down in Articles 21 and 22, the following measures:

(a) inclusion of materials and components of EEE for specific applications in the lists in Annexes III and IV, provided that such inclusion does not weaken the environmental and health protection afforded by Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 and where any of the following conditions is fulfilled:

1. their elimination or substitution via design changes or materials and components which do not require any of the materials or substances listed in Annex II is scientifically or technically impracticable,
2. the reliability of substitutes is not ensured,
3. the total negative environmental, health and consumer safety impacts caused by substitution are likely to outweigh the total environmental, health and consumer safety benefits thereof.

Decisions on the inclusion of materials and components of EEE in the lists in Annexes III and IV and on the duration of any exemptions shall take into account the availability of substitutes and the socioeconomic impact of substitution. Decisions on the duration of any exemptions shall take into account any potential adverse impacts on innovation. Life-cycle thinking on the overall impacts of the exemption shall apply, where relevant;

(b) deletion of materials and components of EEE from the lists in Annexes III and IV where the conditions set out in point (a) are no longer fulfilled.

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5. Assessment of relevance for substitution

The directive is intended to contribute to the protection of human health and the environment.

The Directive states that the most effective way to reduce risks to health and the environment from hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment is substitution with other, less hazardous substances, materials or technical alternatives. The definition of "electrical and electronic equipment" and other relevant terms can be found under Definitions in Article 3 of the Directive.

There are specific requirements for the substitution of heavy metals (lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (BBP, DEHP, DBP, DIBP) in electrical/electronic equipment and accessories.

Exemptions from substitution requirements should be granted if substitution is not practicable from a scientific or technical point of view or if the negative environmental or health impacts of substitution are greater than the achievable benefits.

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6. Link to the legal text

Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 8, 2011

Directive amending Annex II to Directive 2011/65/EU: (EU) 2015/863 valid from 22 July 2019

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7. Further information

On the website of Öko-Institut, together with various partners, is contracted to provide support and technical assistance related to the evaluation of aspects of the Directive. On the Öko-Institut site, the public consultations with stakeholders on the review of Annexes III and IV are published.
Link: https://rohs.exemptions.oeko.info/index.php?id=127

7.1 Studies or publications about the legislation or its impact

European Commission, Directorate General "Environment", on RoHS Directive

7.2 Other relevant legislation

RoHS 2008 review – Stakeholder consultation on topics and request for information reply

In Germany, the Directive has been implemented with the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Substances Ordinance (ElektroStoffV).

Proposal from Denmark to consider the inclusion of five substances in Annex IV
Environmental Project No. 1317, 2010, Inclusion of HBCDD, DEHP, BBP, DBP and additive use of TBBPA in annex IV of the Commission’s recast proposal of the RoHS Directive, Socioeconomic impacts.

Last update: 30.08.2021

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