“Excellent variety of subjects and technical content delivered by very good speakers”.

ERA held its tenth conference on environmental legislation that affects the electrical and electronic sector on the 19-20 November 2008 in London, UK. There were twenty presentations in total covering all types of environmental legislation worldwide including substance restrictions, waste, energy efficiency and eco-design.

There are currently many developments in environmental legislation with the review of RoHS and WEEE nearing completion, new legislation in EU, Asia and North America and a new President-elect in the USA who is promising to put environmental issues higher up the agenda. Delegates clearly found the conference valuable as it is probably the only one that covers all types of environmental legislation affecting products.

The following is a brief summary of the presentations:

Keynote speaker: Steve Andrews (BERR) - Producer Responsibility and Product Policy in the EU

EU environmental legislation often appears to manufacturers to be a disparate list of directives and regulations that are unconnected with no clear strategy. Steve's presentation explained the background behind EU legislation, EU strategies and how legislation relates to these strategies.

Anna Weber (Öko Institut) - The EC Review of the RoHS Directive

Öko Institut has carried out two studies for the Commission on additional RoHS substances and a review of existing exemptions.

Abigail Cottrell (AeA Europe) – The future of RoHS, an Industry Perspective

Abbie gave an overview of the RoHS review that is currently being carried out by the European Commission and some of the issues that need to be addressed, in particular issues relating to exemptions and to additional substance restrictions. The Commission is expected to publish its proposals on the 3 December 2008. Agreement by the European Parliament and Council is possible in 2009 but more likely in 2010 owing to elections to be held in 2009.

Chris Smith (NWML) – Progress of RoHS Compliance and Enforcement across the EU

Chris explained the UK requirements, enforcement policy and the approach used by NWML. NWML are currently investigating 250 producers each year in UK. Non-compliance issues are common; the main failing is poor or incorrectly interpreted documentation.

Marc Jay (BERR) and Alessandra Scoleri (DEFRA) – Changes in Batteries Restrictions in the EU

The UK implementation of the new Batteries Directive was described. This legislation will require the collection, treatment and recycling of spent batteries to be financed by producers. UK Government expects to publish proposals for these obligations by the end of November.

Gary Nevison (Farnell) – Legislation – a distribution view

Gary first reviewed the experiences of manufacturers of RoHS, its cost and technical issues, particularly with lead-free solders. Gary explained that REACH is now proving to be a huge issue for distributors which could have an even greater impact on the electronics industry than RoHS. Industry needs to respond to the unresolved problem of “backyard recycling” of e-waste.

Steve Andrews (BERR) – The WEEE Directive: Progress, Status and Development

Steve described the current review of the WEEE directive currently being carried out by the European Commission. The main issues include scope, the clarity of definitions, revised targets, harmonised registration requirements revision of Annex II and issues relating to distance sellers and to re-use.

Martyn Webb (DEFRA) – The Ecodesign of EuP Directive, Overview and Policy Update

Martyn explained the main features of the EuP directive, what has happened so far and what is likely to happen next and when.

Chris Robertson (ERA Technology) – Implementation of the EuP Directive

Chris described in more detail the future regulation of stand-by and off-mode power losses, simple set-top boxes and external power supplies and the probable requirements for televisions.

Doug Leech (CBA) – REACh “in a nutshell”

Doug provided a short summary of the main obligations of the REACh regulations including pre-registration, SVHCs and the Candidate List, authorisation and obligations for substances in articles. REACh is clearly affecting the electronics industry and it is becoming apparent that many aspects are only beginning to have an impact.

Paul Goodman (ERA Technology) – The Impact of Worldwide Substance Restrictions on the Electronics Industry

There are a growing number of restrictions on substances in electrical equipment and these are being imposed in more countries. In the EU, RoHS and REACH both require manufacturers to have knowledge of the substances present in their products in order to comply with restrictions (RoHS) and information requirements (e.g. SVHCs).

Dae Young Park (KECE) – RoHS, WEEE and REACh: Regulatory Trends in China, Japan and Korea

The history and status of chemicals control legislation in China, Japan and Korea was described.

Phil Hope (Cefic) – Choosing Effective Flame Retardants in an Increasingly Restricted World

Dr Hope’s presentation included issues relating to TBBP-A and Deca-BDE, the “VECAP” programme to control emissions and the RoHS Directive review.

Holly Evans (Strategic Council LLC) – The Current Status of US Products

Holly Evans described the legislation that has been adopted and is being proposed in the US affecting the electronics sector. Most legislation is at State level with currently very little Federal law although energy efficiency legislation was recently adopted. Manufacturers also need to meet their customers demands.

Philip Morton (REPIC) – WEEE, a Review of the First Compliance Period and Effectiveness of Multiple B2B & B2C Compliance Schemes

Philip Morton described the situation in UK where there are a large number of WEEE compliance schemes and problems that have arisen in the first year.

Victor Sundberg (Electrolux) – The EC WEEE Review from a Manufacturer’s Perspective

Victor Sundberg described issues with the WEEE directive some of which should be addressed by the current review by the European Commission but others do not appear to be considered adequately.

Paul Knight (Smith’s Detection) – Adopting Eco-design Techniques: A Possible Approach

Paul Knight described the reasons why eco-design might be used, the methods that can be used and the results of Smith’s Detection’s experience with eco-design of a new product.

Maarten ten Houten (Philips Lighting) – The EuP Directive and what this means to Philips Lighting

Maarten ten Houten presented a case study showing how Philips has improved the environmental performance of its products and issues with compliance with EuP directive proposed implementing measures.

Ankit Shukla (Frost & Sullivan) – Impact analysis of legislation on electrical and electronics market stakeholders

Ankit Shukla’s presentation considered the outlook for environmental legislation globally.

Damien McGovern (Compliance and Risks) – Compliance knowledge Management

Damien described an issue found by most manufacturers of how to manage and comply with the vast and increasing quantity of environmental legislation and associated requirements.

ERA Conference 2009 !

With several EuP product groups falling under new regulation, further REACH requirements on SVHCs and the changes to RoHS2 and WEEE2, 2009 will be a year of many changes. To help you keep pace with this we are pleased to announce that we will running the conference again in on 17-18 November 2009 again at Heathrow.

More information will be made available through www.era.co.uk/conference2008. If you would like to be kept in touch with this do contact us.