 |
Business Issues
The WEEE and RoHS Directives are not simply environmental issues; they are business issues.
There are direct and indirect costs associated with preparing for and complying with both
Directives, and companies must understand these costs and plan carefully to avoid business
interruptions.
- Financial Guarantees - The WEEE Directive requires producers to make financial guarantees
to cover the cost of collection, transportation, treatment, recycling and recovery of WEEE. The
financial responsibility is based on a producer's market share of each EU member country in which
it sells EEE and may include responsibility for both "historic" waste (products sold in Europe
prior to August 13, 2005) as well as "new" WEEE (products sold in Europe on or after August 13,
2005). Other likely or possible costs associated with WEEE and RoHS Compliance:
- Design Costs - What design changes will be necessary in order to ensure that your parts and
products can withstand the elevated reflow and processing temperatures?
- Manufacturing Costs - LF alloy costs are slightly greater than eutectic tin-lead. Moreover,
the elevated reflow temperatures mean greater energy consumption costs. Producers should expect
increases in the cost of assemblies, sub-assemblies and components; suppliers must be prepared
to absorb these costs in the near term until the industry is fully transitioned to LF.
- Inventory Control - Companies must start planning now how to avoid having large stocks of
obsolete inventory after the RoHS deadlines.
- Training - Lead-free solder joints look different from tin-lead joints, and will therefore
require training of quality inspectors
- Certification and Verification - Industry needs guidance and reliable methods for determining
whether an assembly/sub-assembly, part or sub-part is compliant with requirements (i.e., "lead
free"). OEMs must be able to assure their final products are compliant and are considering
various means of verification, ranging from written certification to analytical tests of random
parts and products from their suppliers. Various analytical techniques are starting to emerge
that show promise for quick "spot checks," such as hand-held XRF devices, which are relatively inexpensive
and easy to use, although their overall capability and accuracy has not yet been broadly accepted
or qualified. Moreover, such devices are generally incapable of detecting the presence of
restricted substances in confined or densely populated areas of a printed circuit board.
|
|
