RoHS Directive: Use of lead

The RoHS Directive (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) restricts the use of various hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. The aim of the directive is to ban problematic components from electrical waste. Companies that import or distribute such equipment within the EU are directly affected by the directives and must comply with the regulations.

Exemptions and deadlines

Currently, exemptions still exist for certain equipment groups, applications, components and materials. On July 21, 2021, the exemptions for Group 6c of Annex III of RoHS Directive 2011/65/EU, which regulates the use of copper alloy containing up to 4% lead by mass, would have expired. Various market players have already applied in advance for an extension of the deadline for this exemption for lead. The chance that these requests will be granted is considered to be very high.

The July 21, 2021 deadline is therefore no longer applicable - because existing exemptions will remain valid until the EU Commission has decided on the application for renewal. If no extension of the deadline is achieved, a transition period of 12-18 months will apply from the time the application is processed by the EU Commission.

Implementation of the RoHS Directive at AVS Römer

With the time limited exemption from Annex III Exception 6c, many components from AVS Römer are currently delivered RoHS compliant.

Instead of relying on an extension of the exemption, we at AVS Römer are already working on compliance with the RoHS Directive without exemptions. After all, lead-free components in the supply chain as quickly as possible is our goal at AVS Römer. We achieve this by using alternative materials.

Products that already comply with the RoHS Directive without exemptions are marked with the RoHS symbol on the label.