RoHS, which is the acronym for "Restriction of Hazardous Substances", is a directive from the European Union (EU) that restricts the use of six substances in new electrical and electronic equipment that are placed on the market by July 1, 2006.
"Chicago-based component distributor Newark InOne has produced and released three related webinars on lead-free soldering. The webinar series aims to help design and maintenance engineers understand the issues involved in converting to lead-free solder. The series is also intended to help engineers through product selection in light of RoHS and other emerging environmental regulations." Source: reed-electronics.com
"RF Monolithics, Inc. (Nasdaq:RFMI) (RFM) a leading developer, manufacturer and supplier of radio frequency wireless solutions announced that all of its products will be compliant with the European Union's (EU) Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS) directive by the July 6, 2006, deadline. The RoHS directive provides that electrical and electronic equipment sold in the EU after the deadline cannot contain significant amounts of lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) or polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) except where technically exempted by the directive. RFM's specification sheets for products that currently comply with RoHS directives have the notation "Complies with Directive 2002/95/EC (RoHS)" and are identified with a universal Lead Free Symbol." Source: businesswire.com
"FCI has announced that its AirMax VS® signal connectors have passed both the RoHS and FCI Lead-Free Qualification. While the AirMax VS Guides have always been lead-free-qualified and are available only as lead-free parts, the qualification of the signal connectors is the next step in ensuring that the AirMax VS family meets this important environmental specification." Source: emsnow.com
"Kester's lead-free seminar series, titled "Project 2005: Achieving Lead-free RoHS Assembly," is heading to Dallas, Texas, and will be held on September 13, 2005. Designed to assist the electronics industry in transitioning to lead-free soldering and RoHS compliancy successfully, the seminars address key lead-free assembly issues and give technical, practical information to transition in a timely fashion." Source: smt.pennnet.com
"Catalyst Semiconductor, Inc. (Nasdaq:CATS), a leading supplier of high performance analog/mixed-signal solutions and nonvolatile memory, today announced that the Company is fully compliant with the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive to substantially reduce the lead, mercury, bromine, antimony-based flame retardants and other hazardous substances used in the manufacture of its analog/mixed-signal and memory products. Catalyst announced in June 2002 its intention to offer lead-free and halogen-free packages for its complete line of memory ICs and its entire product portfolio of analog/mixed-signal ICs is currently available in lead-free packages. The Company began shipping its first RoHS-compliant products over two years ago, and to date has shipped more than 150 million pieces of RoHS-compliant product." Source: CATALYST via businesswire.com
"The International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI) today announced publication of recommendations for safeguarding the dependability of high-reliability products as the supply chain converts to lead-free components and materials. The consortium's High-Reliability RoHS Task Force is calling for continued availability of tin-lead (SnPb)-compatible components for exempted products, and for a standardized strategy of mitigation practices and testing methods to minimize the risk of tin whiskers." Source: inemi via businesswire.com
"EMT has been at the forefront of providing efficient, accurate testing of materials for the substances of concern addressed in the RoHS Directive utilizing traditional laboratory methods. Recently, EMT has expanded the laboratory testing services offered to clients worldwide to include XRF methodology for testing electronics. While there are still some limitations to the use of XRF technology for this application, some of the clear advantages include a rapid turnaround of results and the ability to test a material without altering it (non-destructive testing)." Source: arrivenet.com
"RoHS-compliant Series WITLP features low profile head, which bends around small bundles and helps prevent snags, cuts, and abrasions. Ties come in natural Nylon 6/6 or black UVB-stabilized Nylon 6/6, both with UL94 V2 rating. Two different lengths and tensile strengths are available." Source: thomasnet.com
"Allied Electronics recently launched an online "RoHS Knowledge Center" to help design engineers, purchasers and other industry professionals comply with the emerging "green" laws, such as the looming RoHS legislation. The Website keeps customers up to speed on such laws affecting the industry in North America, and features manufacturer updates and a listing of Allied's RoHS-compliant products. Additional features include a search functionality that will display the RoHS-compliant products, enabling users to enter a part number to determine a component's RoHS status. Allied has designated a "green" RoHS checkmark symbol to distinguish RoHS-compliant parts. For more information, please visit www.alliedelec.com/RoHS." Source: smt.pennnet.com
"Where can I get up-to-date web information on WEEE and RoHS directives and progress? Getting up-to-date information is critical to your company's transition roadmap. A good place is the web and the following website contains updates originating from the TAC (Technical Adaptive Committee) for the RoHS. The website www. dti.gov.uk/sustainability contains copies of the WEEE and RoHS Directives but also the latest minutes of the TAC (Technical Adaptive Committee) meetings. Another useful website in reference to the WEEE directive which includes the EU's perspective is www.europa.eu.int/comm/environment/waste/weee_index.htm." Source: emsnow.com
"Envirowise is advising electronics businesses to sign up to its free and confidential designtrack service, which focuses on minimising the environmental impact of a product over its entire lifecycle." Source: electronicstalk.com
"Newark InOne, the leading small-quantity distributor of electronic components and test equipment in North America and a subsidiary of global Premier Farnell plc, is producing a three-part on-demand webinar series on lead-free soldering. The first webinar of the exclusive series, "Lead-free Soldering/Desoldering Issues," is available for viewing 24/7 at Newark InOne's RoHS Express site at http://www.newarkinone.com/rohs. Co-presented by manufacturer TechSpray Plato, it runs 8 minutes." Source: prnewswire.com
"Anderson Power Products® (APP), a leader in high power interconnect solutions, offers its PowerMod® connectors compatible with lead-free re-flow soldering. These high performance PowerMod connectors are certified RoHS compliant and are offered in 3 to 30 circuits with a maximum current of 30 amps." Source: thomasnet.com
"Kontron's new Product Guide for 2005/2006 sets a lead free course. Most of the company’s products in the 98 page Product Guide conform to the European Union’s RoHS/lead free directive (RoHS = Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive), or will do so by 1 July 2006 at the latest. These Kontron products are available from Dominion Electronics." Source: ferret.com.au
"BEST Inc, announces the launch of its PCB circuit trace repair kits and materials. This professional PCB circuit trace kit and the associated repair materials are what is needed to repair circuit traces of printed circuit boards. Advantages of this professional PCB trace repair kit including "how to" slides, a large selection of different trace widths and thicknesses and the tools required to make the repairs. These BEST repair kits help soldering repair technicians become more proficient by offering a wide variety of tools to reduce the amount of time spent trimming circuit frames. "Since these repair kits are designed by artisans who repair circuit boards for a living, the right tools have been included in this general PCB repair kit." Reports Bob Wettermann of BEST Inc." Source: emsnow.com
"A surprising 82 percent of parts suppliers do not expect the RoHS transition to extend delivery times. Another 70 percent do not foresee the need to charge higher prices for compliant parts. And only 34 percent of component suppliers have more than a 25 percent demand for lead-free parts. These statistics come from a study conducted by Technology Forecasters Inc. in Alameda, Calif. for Phoenix-based distributor Avnet Inc." Source: reed-electronics.com
"Lantronix, Inc. (Nasdaq:LTRX), a leading provider of device networking technologies, today announced the shipment of the first RoHS-compliant XPort embedded device server months ahead of the regulatory deadline. Mandated by the European Parliament and Council of the European Union, RoHS (Restriction on Hazardous Substances) requires that manufacturers reduce the usage of hazardous substances including lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls, or polybrominated diphenyl in electrical and electronic equipment by July 2006. As of that date, companies whose products are not RoHS compliant will not be permitted for sale throughout Europe and eventually in parts of Asia." Source: primezone.com
"To address lead free implementation and its impact on the electronics industry, IPC along with the California Circuits Association (CCA) are sponsoring: "Boot Camp: Lead Free Requirements for U.S. Electronic Equipment" on September 27, 2005 in Irvine, Calif., and again on September 28, 2005 in San Jose, Calif.. The boot camp will introduce attendees to the global push for lead free electronics and also address which products are slated to be exempt from legislation, the projected costs of lead free implementation and the effects of this implementation on the supply chain. Additionally, attendees will hear about available resources and materials declarations for electronic products to help companies striving to meet lead free requirements." Source: emsnow.com
"Wireless communications group Telit said its Trizium-Quad and GM862-Quad modules have GPRS Class 10 capability and are now certified as ROHS compliant. "Telit has prepared a full range of compliant products to continue our successful line of GSM/GPRS offerings," said chief executive Oozi Cats. "This is another example of Telit being at the forefront of the Wireless revolution."" Source: sharecast.com
"Envirowise is offering free advice and help to companies in using the 6 month deferment of the Waste, Electrical and Electronic (WEEE) directive to plan ways to rethink their products in advance. Also, the group has set up a confidential, free scheme in helping producers meet the requirements from the Reduction of Harmful Substances (RoHS) directive, which bans all products that contain harmful materials above a set limit." Source: electronicsweekly.com
"Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN) announced the implementation of its RoHS (European Union Restriction of Hazardous Substances) "Gold" strategy for its integrated circuit products. Developed to offer easy solutions to RoHS component transition challenges, RoHS "Gold" provides customers with the preferred finish for lead-frame based products, Nickel-Palladium-Gold (NiPdAu), which means no "tin whiskering" worries, as well as unique part numbers for easy Bill-of-Materials (BOM) management and easy on-line access to key material content information. (See www.ti.com/ecoinfo.)" Source: noticias.info
"To assist manufacturers, suppliers and recyclers, who must screen or verification test materials and components to ensure product compliance with the European Union's Restriction of Hazardous Substances (EU Directive RoHS 2002/95/EC), Oxford Instruments has developed an on-line RoHS by XRF online information resource at www.rohsbyxrf.com. This simple to understand Web site provides guidance through the potential RoHS minefield, with sections devoted to all of the key issues, such as understanding the new legislation, the recycling implications and how to ensure compliance." Source: recyclingtoday.com
"Demonstrating its commitment to support customers working to comply with pending environmental legislation by using RoHS-Compatible(1) or Lead(Pb)-Free(2) components, Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (TAEC)* announced a new website, http://www.rohs.toshiba.com, to provide a broad range of information on the company's support for these environmental initiatives and information on how to obtain certificates on RoHS-controlled substances for Toshiba semiconductors." SOurce: prnewswire.com
"As the RoHS deadline approaches, customer support for the transition to Pb-Free manufacturing has become a critical issue. Surveys show that only half the industry is aware of and preparing for Pb-Free conversion. The fear is that the other half, once it’s convinced that it will have to convert, will create a supply squeeze for NiPdAu in its rush to do so." Source: edn.com
"New from BVM is a five-port conduction cooled USB controller module for 32bit CompactPCI and VMEbus systems. The PMCUSB2 is the first in BVM's new RoHS-compliant family of PCI mezzanine cards. The PMCUSB2 features three front-panel USB ports. In addition, two ports for internal communications are accessible either on the rear I/O on the PMC P4 connector, via a PICMG-compatible PIM, or on a 10-pin onboard connector." Source: electronicstalk.com
"Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) announced the implementation of its RoHS (European Union Restriction of Hazardous Substances) "Gold" strategy for its integrated circuit products. Developed to offer easy solutions to RoHS component transition challenges, RoHS "Gold" provides customers with the preferred finish for lead-frame based products, Nickel-Palladium-Gold (NiPdAu), which means no "tin whiskering" worries, as well as unique part numbers for easy Bill-of-Materials (BOM) management and easy on-line access to key material content information." Source: finanzen.net
"IC Interconnect, a wafer bumping service company, announces its lead-free bumping capabilities, available now as a standard service offering. Reducing harmful substances in the environment at the manufacturing source has become increasingly important. Current RoHS (Restrictions on Hazardous Substances) initiatives mandate that by July 1, 2006, all new electronic equipment put on the market in European Union member states shall not contain lead, mercury, cadmium or hexavalent chromium. The United States does not currently have any guidelines, but will be affected by global manufacturers making the lead-free transition." Source: smt.pennnet.com
"Kester University will host two new courses on RoHS/Lead-free training on August 30–31, 2005, at Kester's Des Plaines, Ill. facility, giving attendees the latest updated information and practical experience to effectively implement RoHS/lead-free assembly. Practical demonstrations of lead-free SMT assembly technology also will give attendees the essential knowledge to transition to lead-free and ensure their products' reliability." Source: smt.pennnet.com
"European semiconductor distribution market showed signs of weakness in the first six months of the year, according to figures from the DMASS industry association. “2005 seems to become a transition year, driven by a slow market and some uncertainties, which the EU Directives RoHS and WEEE impose on the industry,” commented DMASS chairman, Gary Nevison." Source: electronicsweekly.com
"Hand Held Products, Inc., a leader in image-based data collection systems for mobile, in-premise and transaction processing applications, is undertaking efforts to meet compliance mandates in two European Union Directives - WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) and RoHS (Restriction of the use of certain Hazardous Substances)." Source: Hand Held Products Inc, via businesswire.com
"Supertex, a recognized leader in high voltage analog and mixed signal integrated circuits (ICs), today introduced the HV841 and the HV839, two high voltage driver ICs designed to drive two electroluminescent (EL) lamps with a combined area of up to 3.5 square inches. They deliver low noise, highly efficient backlighting solutions for dual LCD and keypad applications such as mobile phones and other portable devices. Additionally, Supertex announced new packaging options for the HV839, a dual EL lamp driver with a nominal regulated output voltage of 90V. The IC is now available in lead-free, RoHS compliant, MLP and MSOP packages." Source: Supertex, Inc via marketwire.com
"The U.K. government is awaiting formal notification of the adoption of the Commission Decision establishing the RoHS Directive's maximum concentration values. To keep industry stakeholders informed of the latest developments, the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) has issued a revised version of the draft non-statutory guidance first published in July 2004. The document now reads: For the purposes of the RoHS Regulations, a maximum concentration value of up to 0.1% by weight in homogeneous materials for lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, PBB and PBDE and of up to 0.01% by weight in homogenous materials for cadmium will be permitted in the manufacture of new EEE." Source: circuitsassembly.com
"Compliance with the European Restriction of Hazardous Substances(RoHS) regulations is creating a number of new business opportunities across the globe as companies race to cash in on the new rules. In China, which has become a center for global electronics manufacturing, numerous companies are looking for ways to capitalize on RoHS. Already, 10 authorized facilities have been set up to provide RoHS testing, and an unknown number of others have sprouted up along with them. Not all of them are legitimate, however." Source: reed-electronics.com
"Allied Electronics has launched an online RoHS Knowledge Center to help design engineers, purchasers and other industry professionals comply with emerging green laws, such as the EU’s RoHS legislation set to go into effect next year. The Website (www.alliedelec.com/RoHS) is designed to keep customers up-to-date on RoHS and other green laws affecting the electronics industry in North America. It will feature manufacturer updates and a listing of the company’s RoHS-compliant products." Source: circuitsassembly.com
"The need for manufacturers of consumer products and related parts and accessories to go "green" is becoming increasingly urgent, Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) said here Wednesday. According to the council, the warning is further underlined by the announcement that two new European Union (EU) directives will be introduced soon: one on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) which takes effect on Aug. 13, 2005, and the other, called Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS), which will go into operation on July 1, 2006. A study conducted by the council found that "green consumerism"in overseas markets was growing rapidly, and it stressed the need for Hong Kong manufacturers to go green to stay in business." Source: news.xinhuanet.com
"LXE, a developer of rugged mobile RFID tag-reading technologies, said this week that it will comply with the European Union's (EU) Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS) directive by the July 6, 2006, deadline and will meet the requirements of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) legislation in each member state. LXE said it would begin shipping RoHS-compliant products into the EU by the second quarter of 2006. All products sold in the European Union will be compliant by the July 6, 2006, deadline, the company said." Source: sdcexec.com
"According to Newark InOne president, Paul Tallentire, the environmental regulations coming out of the European Union are the most significant challenges to face the electronics sector. “This is the biggest headache the industry has ever seen,” said Tallentire. “I can’t think of another legislative or environmental driver that has had so much impact.”" Source: reed-electronics.com
"With a number of leading environmental regulations set to take effect soon – August 13, in the case of the European Union’s deadline on registering for its Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive and the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) less than a year away – just how far up the semiconductor chain are companies feeling a ripple effect? Far enough to reach the printed circuit board (PCB) level in the electronics design automation (EDA) space." Source: reed-electronics.com
"Motivated by rising public concern over the harmful impact of packaging and waste, lawmakers across Europe have enacted country-specific rules on the use of toxic materials over the past decade like the regulations that stopped Sony's game consoles from entering the Netherlands. But the Reduction of Hazardous Substances, or RoHS, mandate, extends and expands those effort across the entire 25-member EU. The rule complements a related EU initiative, the Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive, that makes manufacturers responsible to take back gear at the end of its life, to recycle parts, and safely dispose of toxic materials." Source: businessweek.com
"EAO, the expert partner for Human Machine Interfaces, clearly illustrates its commitment to reducing the environmental impact of its products with its Series 44 range of industrial control switches, which meet the latest RoHS directive restricting the use of hazardous substances in electronic equipment. EAO customers can be assured that the plastic and contact materials of the Series 44 range of 22.5 and 30.5mm switches are free of potentially toxic cadmium based pigments." Source: manufacturingtalk.com
"In line with the EU’s recent RoHS Directive, BigHead Bonding Fasteners Ltd. has now standardised on a new chrome-free zinc-passive finish for the mild steel range of its famous BigHead bonding fasteners, at no extra charge to the company’s 1,500+ UK and overseas customers. This type of finish - containing no Chrome-6 - is now mandatory for plated metal parts used in the Auto industry, with other industries rapidly following suit." Source: azom.com
"The EAO Series 44 range of industrial control switches now meets the latest RoHS Directive restricting the use of hazardous substances in electronic equipment. EAO customers can be assured that the plastic and contact materials of the Series 44 range of 22.5 and 30.5mm switches are free of potentially toxic cadmium based pigments." Source: electronicstalk.com
"Legislation to Restrict the use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS) comes into effect in the UK on 1st July 2006. After that time, any electronic devices employing mercury-wetted contacts, including rotational interfaces, cannot be used within the European Union. I.D.M. Electronics’ P Series slip rings are mercury-free and designed to provide reliable high-performance rotational connections for power and signal transmission in a wide range of applications. Being mercury-free, P Series devices are perfect for use in food and beverage, pharmabio and packaging industries. They can be mounted in any orientation without problem and are ideal for heated rollers, machine tool and other process applications." Source: pandct.com
"Electronics Yorkshire will be holding a ‘WEEE and RoHS – what do the impending EU Directives mean for you?’ course at the University of Hull on September 27. The course will review the issues and give updates on the latest developments as well as helping with understanding the impact of the Directives on business. There will also be an ‘Interactive surgery’ where delegates have a chance to ask questions about WEEE and RoHS relating to products or processes." Source: electronicsweekly.com
"RS is aiming to help customers to comply with the forthcoming RoHS Directive by marking products in its online catalogue with a RoHS component compliance status flag. It has labelled RoHS compliant products in its online catalogue with a green flag. To further remove confusion, products that are exempt and products that don’t comply will also be clearly marked. To evaluate lead free soldering, RoHS compliant sample packs are available free of charge from RS (Stock code 517 7278). These contain lead-free solder and other electronic components that comply with the legislation." Source: eetuk.com
"AUSTRIAMICROSYSTEMS, represented by Adilam Electronics, has expanded its display driver portfolio by introducing the AS1120, a new RoHS compliant LCD driver which supports alphanumeric and bar graph displays. Targeted at industrial and automation markets, the chip can drive up to 46 segments of non-multiplexed LCD displays and can be cascaded to increase this number." Source: ferret.com.au
"The lead-free Versa microcontroller family includes the VRS1xxx series, the VRS5xx series, the VRS700, and the VRS900, all available in PLCC-44, QFP-44, and DIP-40 packages. The VRS1xxx series includes 64 or 128 kbytes of flash memory, 1 kbyte of RAM, and in-system/in-application programming capabilities. The VRS5xx series comes with 4, 8, 16, 64 kbytes of flash memory and 128 bytes, 256 bytes, 1 kbyte, or 4 kbytes of RAM, and the VRS700 comes with 64 kbytes of flash and 4 kbytes of RAM. The VRS900 mixed-signal unit comes with 8 kbytes of flash; 256 bytes of RAM; a four-channel, 8-bit ADC; and a 14-segment LCD driver. All the vendor’s flash 8051-based microcontrollers comply with ROHS (reduction-of-hazardous-substances) standards." Source: edn.com
"Offered in a choice of board mounting, DIP or SIP, industry-standard footprint packages, the I-series of 1 and 2W isolated DC/DC convertors from XP Power are now RoHS compliant. These low cost products comprise over 175 models in single and dual output versions with input voltages from 3.3 to 48V DC." Source: electronicstalk.com