RoHS originated from an EU delegated Directive, The Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive, or as commonly known, the Restriction of Hazardous Substances.
The directive came into force on 1st July 2006 and initially covered the restriction of the use of the following 6 hazardous materials.
The directive has subsequently been amended twice, with the current Directive being 2015/863, (commonly known as “RoHS 3”), amending Annex II of Directive 2011/65/EU on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances (“RoHS 2”).
Items added in the amendments includes further restricted substances:
Since leaving the EU, the equivalent UK legislation is the Restriction of the use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2012 (as amended) that covers Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The RoHS directives target electrical and electronic equipment with the purpose of restricting certain hazardous substances from entering the production process to avoid adverse impacts on human health and the environment.
“RoHS 3” is a partner directive to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive that controls the disposal and recycling of electrical and electronic equipment.
