RoHS and REACH guides for electronics manufacturers

RoHS and REACH at a glance

RoHS is Directive 2011/65/EU, commonly called RoHS 3 after the 2015 amendment that added four phthalates to the original six substances. It restricts ten substances in electrical and electronic equipment: lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, PBB, PBDE, DEHP, BBP, DBP and DIBP. Each is capped at 0.1 percent by weight in homogeneous material, except cadmium at 0.01 percent. Compliance is self-declared and sits inside CE marking. The usual route to proving it is EN IEC 63000, which sets out the technical documentation you assemble from supplier declarations, material declarations and, where needed, test reports. Annex III and IV exemptions are time limited and have to be renewed. REACH works differently. It covers substances in all articles, not only electronics, and a substance of very high concern above 0.1 percent of an article's weight creates an information duty rather than a ban: you must inform your business customers, and consumers on request within 45 days.