| Whats New |
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| Sanyo commission ERA to calculate
cost of compliance with the WEEE directive
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| The Waste From Electrical and Electronic Equipment
(WEEE) directive requires producers to pay for disposal
of electrical products from 13th August 2005. |
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| ERA's Reliability and Failure Analysis group is working
with Sanyo to develop a model which will predict the magnitude
of these costs, when these will arise and what major factors
influence them. The model not only quantifies the costs
arising from Sanyo's own post August 2005 products but
also what Sanyo will have to pay for 'historical waste'
(products put on the market before this date). This data
is fed back to calculate what visible fee is necessary
now to cover future costs. |
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| The key benefit of such a model for any electrical equipment
producer is that it enables them to make informed business
decisions now to minimise obligations in the future. |
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| To find out more, come to the conference Recycling Electrical
and Electronic Waste on 18 and 19 November where a paper
on this project is being presented. |
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| Count down to 1st July 2006.
Are your products lead-free? |
| Lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium and two
flame-retardants to be banned. "Severe penalties"
for non-compliance. |
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| With only 32 months to go before most electrical products
containing these substances are banned from sale throughout
the EU, ERA is active in supporting industry through this
complex transition. |
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| A recent survey, funded by the ERA Foundation, and carried
out by ERA's Reliability and Failure Analysis business
unit has shown that most of industry has a long way to
go. Conducted by personal interviews with experts from
150 affected organisations, the survey showed that most
companies affected have no plan in place to ensure there
products meet the deadline. |
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| ERA has published a report to aid companies understand
how the RoHS directive will affect them with detailed
guidance about the technical issues and the steps required
to make the change. |
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| ERA also provides dedicated training on lead-free with
courses coming up on 4 November this year and 18 March
and 6 October 2004. |
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| Features |
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| Zinc whisker induced failures
in electronic systems |
| The recent experience of a major financial company highlights
the fact that zinc whiskers present increasing risks to
the 'health' of electrical installations. High failure
rates were encountered on PCBs and power supplies within
data processing equipment in a large data processing centre
in North East England. The problem was traced by ERA to
small metallic particles of zinc being deposited on the
PCBs and causing inter-track conduction. |
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| New
publications |
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| Making
the transition to lead-free production |
|
2003 survey of the
state of readiness of the UK electrical products industry
and practical guidance on how to make the change
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This report:
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explains what the legislation means
for you |
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reviews world-wide trends in lead-free |
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explains the alternatives to tin/lead
and their relative properties |
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describes what companies are doing
in your sector |
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provides detailed results of the survey |
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explains how to implement a lead-free
strategy with step by step flow charts to guide you along
the way |
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highlights potential problems and how
to avoid them |
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highlights key industry concerns |
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Provides recommendations for |
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component and equipment manufacturers |
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legislative authorities |
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The report will be of benefit to:
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Electrical equipment manufacturers
(SMEs) - managing and technical director |
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Electrical equipment manufacturers
(large companies) - production and development managers,
environment and compliance managers |
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Legislative and governmental authorities
- environmental officers and those involved in implementing
legislation |
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Trade associations - electrical products
and environment |
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| Upcoming Events
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Course - Changing to
Lead Free Solders
Date: 12 May 2004 - venue Leatherhead
Description: The Restriction of certain Hazardous
Substances (RoHS) directive bans the sale within the EU
of a wide variety of electrical equipment containing tin-lead
solders from July 2006. This course covers: |
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How the drive towards lead-free will affect you
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What are the differences between tin-lead and
lead-free solders |
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What difficulties can occur and how to avoid them |
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Who is already using lead-free around the world
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Course - Design for the Environment (DfE)
for electronic and electrical equipment
Date: 11 May 2004 - venue Leatherhead
Description: Design for the Environment techniques
offer cost savings, can pre-empt future legislation and
demonstrate a "green" image to customers. This
course covers: |
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What Design for the Environment (DfE) is and how
it can help your business |
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How DfE is used |
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Techniques and ideas for DfE that could result
in long term cost savings |
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Design and compliance issues |
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What others have done with DfE |
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Conference - Designing and Recycling Electrical and Electronic Equipment
Date: 18-19 November 2003 - venue Regents Park
Marriott Hotel, London
Description: This annual event attracts an international
audience and speakers covering all aspects of WEEE, RoHS
and other environmental issues impacting on this industry
sector. Speakers this year include the CBI, DTI, Clariant,
Lucent Technologies, Eurosource Europe, Brother UK, Wincanton,
Intellect, ERA, Flextronics, WEEE Executing Forum, Sanyo,
London Remade, RS Components, Plestech, Nokia, Selway
Moore, Electrolux, and TCO Development. |
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Reliability
and Failure Analysis News - Issue 6
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