Environmental Compliance in the Electrical Connector Industry

RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) regulations originated in Europe 15 years ago, and were created to restrict the use of hazardous materials in electric and electronic products.

Over the years, new amendments have been added to the RoHS regulations, including EU Directive 2011/65/EU, otherwise known as “RoHS 2,” because they replace the original regulations.

RoHS 2 restricts the use of certain hazardous materials in new categories of equipment with the goal of keeping them out of the waste stream. It mandates that the homogeneous materials within new electrical and electronic equipment must contain less than 0.1 percent – by weight – of lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) or polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) and less than 0.01 percent cadmium.

It also introduces CE marking to electrical and electronic equipment, and requires manufacturers to issue an EU declaration of conformity to show they have met their legal obligations.

The updated regulation was designed to create greater environmental compliance in the connector industry, governing a wider range of products and devices, including:

• Industrial control/monitoring equipment
• In vitro medical devices
• Medical devices and control instruments
• Lighting equipment
• Toys and sports equipment
• Automatic dispensers
• Large and small household appliances
• IT/telecommunication equipment

By July 2019, RoHS 2 will have expanded to cover all electrical and electronic goods, no matter their design or use.

There are some applications exempt from RoHS’ scope, including transport, non-road mobile machinery that has a professional use and an on-board motor, and large scale fixed installations.

Though most of our products fall outside the scope of Directive 2011/65/EU, PEI-Genesis is committed to helping our customers find RoHS information to reduce or eliminate hazardous substances, including using substitutes as and when they become available to the industry.

Environmental compliance in the connector industry is important. Contact us today to learn how we can help you make sure your products meet these guidelines.