What is WEEE/RoHS?

On January 27, 2003, the European Union (EU) established directives known as WEEE (Waste from Electrical & Electronic Equipment) & RoHS (Restriction of certain Hazardous Substances). These directives will affect all electronic products that will be imported into the EU. These directives go into full affect July 1, 2006. Other countries are currently working on their versions of these legislations such as Japan's "green laws", California's Proposition 65, and China's RoHS version are still being developed.

WEEE (Waste from Electrical & Electronic Equipment)
The WEEE portion of the directives mandates the collection & treatment of electronic & electrical equipment at end-of-life. This portion of the legislation will go into affect August 13, 2005.

RoHS (Restriction of certain Hazardous Substances)
The RoHS section of the directive bans the sale of electrical & electronic products containing specific materials as below: 

• Lead
• Mercury
• Chromium
• Cadmium
• Brominated flame retardants

Only compliant materials can be sold into the EU as of July 1, 2006.

All companies that make, sell, or distributes products into EU countries with enacted laws must comply with those local laws.