ROHS-direktiv

ROHS Directive - lead-free soldering of electronic components

As a manufacturer of machines featuring electronic equipment Epoke® A/S must follow the EU Directive called the ROHS-directive, or the ”Restriction of the use of Hazardous Substances Directive”, which is a sister directive to the WEEE-directive. The directive has number 2002/95EC and came into force on July 1, 2006 within the European Union.

The Directive prohibits manufacturers of electrical and electronic equipment the use of the following 6 substances in their productsLead

• Mercury
• Cadmium
• Hexavalent Chromium
• PBB
• PDBE

In order to comply with the EU ROHS legislation all of these substances must either be removed, or must be reduced to within maximum permitted concentrations in any products containing electrical or electronic components that will be sold within the European Union.

According to the directive it is the responsibility of each individual manufacturer to comply with the maximum permitted concentration. The Danish authorities will conduct current inspections where Epoke® A/S has to prove compliance with the Directive. Therefore, Epoke® A/S will demand from its suppliers that the products/components delivered to Epoke® A/S also comply with the directives.

There are no requirements to mark the products in any special way, however, in order to facilitate the differentiation between old and new products, Epoke® A/S has changed the color of prints, which meet the directive, to black or red.

For spare part deliveries for old machines a respite has been granted until year 2010 in order to comply with the Directive. Therefore, Epoke® A/S will still be delivering the old types of prints.