Hazardous substances in electronics

The European Commission intends to review Directive 2011/65/EU on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), i.e. the so-called RoHS Directive. In the European Commission’s view, although the RoHS Directive has helped achieve the objective of reducing the use of hazardous substances in EEE, it does present some weaknesses, such as the high administrative burden and the complexity of its provisions and processes, most notably when it comes to granting/renewing/revoking exemptions to substance restrictions. To improve the Directive, the European Commission is thus considering several policy options, e.g.: reforming the exemption process, incl. in terms of clarifying and improving the exemption criteria; reforming the substance restriction provisions, incl. in terms of ensuring coherence with other pieces of legislation such as REACH and Ecodesign; reforming the provisions on spare parts; clarifying and updating the scope of the Directive; introducing provisions concerning recycled material and critical raw materials; improving implementation and enforcement, incl. in the context of e-commerce; transforming the RoHS Directive into a Regulation (so with uniform application across all EU Member States). The European Commission is expected to publish its proposal on the review of the RoHS Directive in the fourth quarter of 2022, and it is currently gathering stakeholders’ views on the different policy options. Please follow the link for further information.