EU Consultation on the Revision of the RoHS Directive (Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment)

On 10 March 2022, the European Commission launched a public consultation on the revision of Directive 2011/65/EU on restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS Directive). The consultation is open for contributions until 2 June 2022. The results of the consultation will feed into the impact assessment supporting the review of the RoHS Directive. The consultation may significantly impact the requirements for placing on the EU market electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) products. It follows on from a “call for evidence” by the Commission earlier in the year. A legislative proposal for revision of the RoHS Directive is scheduled in the Commission’s 2022 Work Programme for Q4.

EEE is “equipment which is dependent on electric currents or electromagnetic fields in order to work properly and equipment for the generation, transfer and measurement of such currents and fields and designed for use with a voltage rating not exceeding 1 000 volts for alternating current and 1 500 volts for direct current”. This open scope of RoHS (with narrow exceptions and exemptions) includes items such as household appliances, IT and telecommunications equipment, lighting equipment, electrical and electronic tools, toys, leisure and sports equipment, medical devices, and monitoring and control instruments including industrial monitoring and control instruments. Both consumer and professional EEE is covered. 

The RoHS Directive currently restricts the use of 10 substances at maximum concentration values for each (set by weight in homogeneous materials): lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP). All products with an electrical and electronic component, unless benefitting from a specific exclusion, must comply with these restrictions. By restricting the use of those substances, the RoHS Directive facilitates recycling of waste EEE (WEEE) covered by Directive 2012/19/EU.

The current public consultation is intended to identify the areas of the RoHS Directive that should be revised to improve its application, in line with the Circular economy action plan, the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability and the Zero pollution action plan. 

Most importantly, the consultation asks the stakeholders to comment on the following issues:

• Whether the RoHS Directive should be turned into a directly applicable regulation to address the issues related to transposition by each EU Member State of amendments to the current RoHS Directive (g., exemptions).
• Whether the scope of the RoHS Directive should be extended to include radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology, EEE designed for vehicles but not permanently installed in it (g., navigation systems in cars) and photovoltaic panels.
• Whether compliance with the RoHS Directive interferes with compliance obligations under other pieces of EU legislation (g., the REACH Regulation, Ecodesign Directive and national legislation).
• Whether, in view of the circular economy agenda, the current restrictions under the RoHS Directive limit, inter alia, the sourcing of parts and components from WEEE for the repair of EEE.
• Whether the current exemptions for recovered spare parts in specified EEE are sufficient.
• Whether the current criteria for assessment of exemptions from the RoHS restrictions are appropriate and whether it should be possible to allow for new exemptions in cases where new technologies coming for the first time on the EU market require the use of restricted substances (provided there are no acceptable alternatives from an environmental and human health perspective).
• Whether, in view of delays, the timelines of exemption assessments are appropriate
• Whether the application process for exemptions, and exemption validity and transition periods should be reconsidered.
• Whether the process for review and amendment of the list of restricted substances should be reconsidered.
• Whether revision of the RoHS Directive should consider e-commerce developments.
• Whether the requirements for the declaration of conformity for EEE should be reconsidered.

In addition, the consultation asks the general public about willingness to pay for an item of EEE costing more because of the use of recycled materials or recovered parts. 

As indicated, trade associations, individual companies, NGOs, experts, the general public and any other interested parties will be able to submit comments in response to the 35 specific questions set out in the consultation. It will also be possible to supplement these responses with a position paper of up to 6 pages. As always, we highly recommend participation in these consultations, since early expression of reasoned positions is the most effective means to influence the final legislative outcome.