Environmental

Directive 2013/56/EU amending Directive 2006/66/EC of the European Parliament

This amendment put expiration dates on exemption for mercury in button cells and batteries for cordless power tools. The also directive has a carve out for button cells for hearing aids.

Button batteries with mercury under 2% expired on 1 October 2015,

Cordless Power Tool batteries expired on 31 December 2016.

Button Cells for Hearing Aids where reviewed and in a Report From The Commission To The European Parliament And The Council

Expiry of the exemption for mercury-containing button cells as of 1 October 2015 is not expected to entail problems as regards the availability of button cells used in hearing aid devices. Consequently, there is no need to extend the exemption enshrined in Article 4 of Directive 2006/66/EC

Directive 2006/66/EC of the European Parliament

While batteries have always been regulated, the regulations are more rigid now.

Lead and mercury in batteries have long been recognized as an environmental problem. EU Directives date back to 1991. In 2006 the EU has passed the new directive 2006/66/EC on batteries and accumulators and waste batteries and accumulators and repealing Directive 91/157/EEC. This directive replaces the previous directives.

The prohibitions:

1. Without prejudice to Directive 2000/53/EC, Member States shall prohibit the placing on the market of:
   1. all batteries or accumulators, whether or not incorporated into appliances, that contain more than 0,0005 % of mercury by weight; and
   2. portable batteries or accumulators, including those incorporated into appliances, that contain more than 0,002 % of cadmium by weight.
2. The prohibition set out in paragraph 1(a) shall not apply to button cells with a mercury content of no more than 2 % by weight.

This translates to less than 5 PPM (2% on button) of Mercury and less than 20 PPM Cadmium in the total weight of the battery. This doesn't appear to be at the homogenous level as in the RoHS Directive. Also, the battery or battery packaging must have the crossed out wheelie-bin.

The only limitations are use in military and space applications. If implemented on time, it is expected to be law in 2009. The key concept: all batteries will be recycled.

Mouser Position

Battery Manufacturers have revised their product to remove mercury. They have also marked their product appropriately. With that said, many batteries are either to heavy, or pose a risk to air freight. Therefore, they are not eligible to ship overseas. Also customers should read manufacturer’s datasheets to ensure they select product that meets requirements.

EU Directives and Useful Links

2013/56/EU of November 20, 2013 amending Directive 2006/66/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on batteries and accumulators and waste batteries and accumulators as regards the placing on the market of portable batteries and accumulators containing cadmium intended for use in cordless power tools, and of button cells with low mercury content, and repealing Commission Decision 2009/603/EC.

2006/66/EC of September 6, 2006 on batteries and accumulators and waste batteries and accumulators and repealing Directive 91/157/EEC.

DTI Website on Batteries and Accumulators

Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 on persistent organic pollutants (POP)

Mouser Electronics, Inc. intends to comply with environmental regulations worldwide to include Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 on persistent organic pollutants (POP).

The POP Regulation lists 30 regulated persistent organic pollutants. The directive prescribes that “The manufacturing, placing on the market and use of substances listed . . . whether on their own, in mixtures or in articles, shall be [restricted or] prohibited” Consequently, when the writers added the word “Articles” to the regulation, they included “electronic parts.” Whether this was intentional or not, is mute without guidance from the ECHA. One interpretation would be that the writers meant the container holding the substance such as plastic bottle, or paint can.

Most countries have banned or regulated many of the POP for decades. Pesticides (insecticides), such as DDT and Chlordane, make up the majority of the POP substances. These substances should never show up in electronic parts intentionally.

Flame retardant constitute the rest of the regulated POP. They include Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), and Hexabromocyclododecane. Producers have incorporated these flame retardants in plastics and foam used in consumer products, such as older TV cases and automobile upholstery. The European Chemicals Agency included two of these flame retardant in the REACH directive: Hexabromocyclododecane, and Bis(pentabromophenyl) ether (decabromodiphenyl ether; decaBDE).

The regulation also contains provisions intended to control stockpiles now treated as waste management. These provisions reduce stockpiles of all POP, and clean up and eliminate these restricted substances in the future. The regulation further sets out concentration limits for waste management in stockpiles of waste materials. This does not extend to levels contained in substance homogeneous of articles, such as RoHS and REACH currently regulates. This suggests the writers envisioned regulation of the raw substances, and not articles per se. Any article containing POP substances; however, is part of the POP waste.

Mouser does not sell any of these POP substances as the material, or in mixtures, and Mouser has started addressing compliance with the POP Regulation with the manufacturers whose products we distribute as the regulation includes flame-retardants. Mouser will post manufacturer’s information on the Mouser website, and update statements as new information becomes available.

Mouser Statement on POP Directive

REACH - Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals

REACH is a European Union regulation that affects all industries doing business in the EU. It places the responsibility for chemical safety on the manufacturers of those chemicals and brings the EU under one unified set of regulations. An important objective of these regulations is to encourage, and in certain situations, ensure Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) are eliminated or replaced with less dangerous chemicals.

SCIP is the database for information on Substances of Very High Concern in articles as such or in complex objects (Products) established under the Waste Framework Directive (WFD).

Since 2021, companies supplying articles containing SVHC on the REACH Candidate List in a concentration above 0.1% weight by weight (w/w) on the EU market must submit information on these articles to European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), via the SCIP database.

REACH - Mouser's Position

Mouser Electronics acknowledges our responsibility to communicate SVHC information, as provided by our manufacturers, downstream to our customers per Article 33 of the REACH regulation.

Mouser distributes a vast selection of products from a wide number of manufacturers. We expect our manufacturers to have robust environmental programs that adhere to the requirements of REACH, identify any SVHC and provide Safety Data Sheets or other declarations detailing the safe handling of their products.

Since 2021, in line with legal requirements, Mouser has been registered with the ECHA and has been actively working to obtain REACH compliance information from our manufacturers and declaring accordingly on the SCIP database when one of their products contains SVHC above 0.1% tolerance. In addition to keeping SCIP up to date, when Mouser is made aware of the presences of SVHC, we communicate this information to our customers by posting documentation to the product detail pages listed on our website.

Because our portfolio is constantly expanding, some products may not have a verified REACH status readily available on our website. It is important that customers take an active role in understanding the environmental compliance requirements of their selected products, and do not hesitate to contact us if the information is not available on our website.

Since Mouser is a distributor of electronic components, we cannot sign global agreements or blanket declarations regarding product REACH compliance.

For additional information regarding the REACH status of a Mouser product, you may email Environmental@mouser.com.

For additional information regarding the REACH Regulation, please see ECHA website

SCIP Information

RoHS

Commentary

RoHS Amended

EU Directive 2011/65/EU was amended to include 4 new substances by EU Directive 2015/863, effective 7/22/19. The substances (all phthalates) are for the most part not used by the electronic component manufactures, and are considered SVHC under REACH. Therefore, many manufacturers have been slow to update their environmental information. This has put Mouser behind in updating the RoHS status on our website. The amendment also added a new “other” product category number 11. This affects our customers, more than the individual components. Also Category 9 Monitoring and Control instruments are not due for RoHS 3 until July 2021, therefore they will only be compliant with EU Directive 2011/65/EU until then.

RoHS Revised

EU Directive 2002/95/EC, the RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) directive, was replaced on 21 July 2011 by EU Directive 2011/65/EU, commonly referred to as RoHS2. The major changes that affected the purchase of electronic components were the adoption of the “CE” mark for indication of RoHS compliance and the elimination of Lead (Pb) in ceramic chip capacitors. Several manufacturers were slow to catch up with the dropping of this exemption, but all are up to requirements now. Otherwise not much has changed for electronic component distribution.

EU Removes DecaBDE exemption

Recent events in the EU have resulted in the elimination of the exemption for Decabrominated diphenyl ether (DecaBDE). DecaBDE is part of the Polybrominated diphenyl ethers already regulated to 1,000 PPM by the RoHS Directive. Therefore when a supplier of products indicates a product is RoHS compliant without an exemption, this would include compliant to DecaBDE requirements. Mouser Electronics indicates the use of an exemption on our website, packing list and product labels.

RoHS changes the world

RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) is the European Union's (EU) Directive 2011/65/EU of January 27, 2003, regarding the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. The directive compels members of the EU to write and implement legislation that supports the directive. EU members were to be compliant no later than July 1, 2006. The directive limits the allowable amounts of six hazardous substances in EEE products marketed in the EU. These substances are lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, certain brominated flame retardants (PBBs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). Nothing in recent history has challenged the distribution of electronic components more than the European Union's directive on this restriction of hazardous substances.

RoHS FAQs 

Mouser Information

Mouser, the distributor to count on.

It is the policy of Mouser Electronics to identify and offer products to the customer as RoHS Compliant, RoHS Exempt, and/ or RoHS Not Applicable, only after specific requirements have been met. Mouser defines the below terms as:

• "RoHS: Compliant" per producer documentation. The manufacturer has declared and documented compliance to EU Directive 2011/65/EU Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) as amended.
• "RoHS: Compliant by Exemption" per producer documentation. The manufacturer has declared and documented an exemption from compliance to EU Directive 2011/65/EU Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) as amended.
• "RoHS: Non-Applicable" as declared by Mouser or the manufacturer after determining the product doesn't fall within the scope of either the RoHS or WEEE directives. Examples would be non-powered hand tool or batteries.

With the publishing of EU Directive 2015/863, Mouser had to maintain two levels of RoHS compliance. The original RoHS 2, EU Directive 2011/65/EU and EU Directive 2011/65/EU as amended by EU Directive 2015/863. Some refer to amendment EU Directive 2015/863 as RoHS 3, but really is RoHS 2 amended. The two levels are because of the transition period for medical, and monitoring and control instruments. According to EU Directive 2015/863 these industries had until 7/22/2021 to comply with the amendment. Therefore, we had four product RoHS information pop-ups; RoHS 2011/65/EU, RoHS 2011/65/EU with exemption, 2011/65/EU amended by 2015/863, and 2011/65/EU amended by 2015/863 with exemption. Now that the exemption for medical, and monitoring and control instruments has passed, these manufacturers have certified to Mouser compliance to RoHS as amended.

Mouser will indicate environmental compliance on parts where the original manufacturer has provided Mouser with clear objective evidence of RoHS compliance. Mouser has also started posting manufacturer Declaration of Compliance on our website. Where these exist, customers will find these declarations posted at the product level, same place where customers expect to find the data sheet for the product. As we receive these declarations, we are posting them to our website. Environmental compliance should be based on manufacturer’s documentation, and not the distributor’s.

Mouser performs no testing of products and relies solely on the manufacturer of the product for identification of Environmental Compliance. Mouser makes no warranty, certification, or declaration of compliance. All statements by Mouser of Environmental compliance, are based on Manufacturer documentation. Any relevant evidence will be filed with the Vice President of Quality or the Product Operations Director, and maintained for at least 4 years from the date of receipt. Products will not be advertised or offered as Environmentally Compliant, until sufficient evidence is received from the manufacturer, and any in stock or on order inventory has been determined to be such. We will never mix stock.

Directives

RoHS

2015/863 of March 31, 2015, amending Annex II to Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the list of restricted substances.

2011/65/EU of January 27, 2003, on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. (RoHS)

TSCA Compliance

The Environmental Protection Agency of the U.S Government has recently posted in the Federal register notice of the agency’s intention to restrict the use of Phenol, isopropylated phosphate (3:1) (PIP (3:1) and four others. These final rules, which were effective February 5, 2021, will be codified at 40 CFR Part 751, Subpart E.

PIP(3:1) is mostly used in lubricants and greases, coating products, adhesives and sealants, polymers, photo-chemicals and hydraulic fluids, but also as a plasticizer and flame retardant in plastic. The EU’s REACH regulation includes this along with other registered substances, but has not identified it as one of the SVHC. California Proposition 65 also does not include this.

These final rules, which prohibit the processing and distribution in commerce of PIP (3:1) and products containing PIP (3:1), have caught the electronics industry off guard. While these rules provide nine exemptions, most generally do not apply to the electronic component industry. The third exemption most closely relates:

Processing and distribution in commerce for use in new and replacement parts for the automotive and aerospace industry, and the distribution in commerce of those parts to which PIP (3:1) has been added;

This exemption applies solely to parts used by the automotive and aerospace industry, but does not extend this to consumer products. Therefore, non-specialized electronic distributors cannot claim this exemption.

Mouser Electronics engaged the Electronic Component Industry Association (ECIA) to work with component manufacturers on the industry’s response. Mouser will keep abreast of developments, and post information as it becomes available in this regard. At this time, Mouser has no information on PIP3:1 in our products.

On March 10, 2021, the EPA issued a temporary 180-day ‘No Action Assurance’ order and extended the public comment period to seek industry input on newly-raised issues associated with the March 8, 2021, compliance date for the prohibitions on processing and distribution of Phenol, Isopropylated Phosphate (3:1) (PIP (3:1)) for use in articles, and the articles to which PIP (3:1) has been added. This give the industries more time to locate, and if feasible, find substitute substances.

The EPA also included 4 other chemicals in resent actions. DecaBDE (CAS: 1163-19-5) is a Polybrominated diphenyl ether, therefore it is covered under the RoHS directive. Hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD) (CAS: 87‐68‐3) is used as a chlorine scrubber in manufacturing processes such as the production of HCI gas. 2,4,6-Tris(tert-butyl)phenol (2,4,6-TTBP) (CAS: 732-26-3) is used as stabilizer, free-radical scavenger and antioxidants in technical applications, such as in fuels, hydraulic fluids and lubricating oils. Pentachlorothiophenol (PCTP)(CAS: 133‐49‐3) was used in the rubber industry. The compound was added to rubber (both natural and synthetic) to facilitate processing. However, the EPA received a letter in 2017 from the Rubber Manufacturers Association, indicating that its members “do not currently use … PCTP to manufacture tires produced in the U.S. or imported into the U.S.” Therefore, these additional chemicals are addressed by RoHS, or have nothing to apply to electronics.

On March 4, 2022, the EPA extended the deadline for compliance with TSCA prohibition on flame retardant PIP (3:1) in articles to October 23, 2024. The EPA is allowing the additional time for industry to investigate the supply chain and locate substitutes.

Mouser Statement on TSCA Compliance

WEEE Recast

DIRECTIVE 2012/19/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 4 July 2012 on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) (recast) In July of 2012 the European Parliament recognized that the EU was not meeting collection goals for WEEE. This was attributed to much of the WEEE being exported to third world countries, and therefore, not being included in WEEE recycle programs of member countries. The recast WEEE provides for measures to clamp down on the practice of exporting WEEE. It also increases recycle efforts to meet targets.

WEEE - The One That Started It All

WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) represents the EU Directive 2002/96/EC of January 27, 2003 on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).

This Directive lays down measures to protect the environment and human health by preventing or reducing the adverse impacts of the generation and management of waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)

"The purpose of this directive is, as a first priority, the prevention of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), and in addition, the reuse, recycling and other forms of recovery of such wastes so as to reduce the disposal of waste."

Essentially this means, do not throw waste in a landfill - - reuse or recycle 100% of the electronic and electrical equipment. Furthermore, the directive mandates manufacturers (known as 'producers' in the EU), will finance the reuse and recycling, and meet specific targets for this reuse or recycling. The directive also requires products be marked with the "crossed-out wheelie bin". This mark is actually illustrated in the directive.

The directive compels members of the EU to write and implement legislation which supports the directive. EU members had until 8/13/2005 to have this in place, but implementation of some portions of the directive has been delayed until 1/1/2006. The delayed part is the actual collection and recycling of WEEE. The original schedule of 8/13/2005 still holds for producer registration and product marking. Many EU members are well on schedule to implementation. Hopes and dreams of this all going away is wishful thinking. In reality, the environmental movement is shifting into high gear. And it's not just a European requirement -- China is striving to meet or beat the Europeans. California has on the books SB20 and SB50 on the books as well, requiring the recycling of EEE having displays larger than 4 inches. Numerous other state legislatures are working on their own versions.

Mouser's Information

We distribute Electrical and Electronic Equipment which falls within the scope of the WEEE Directive. Just about any product that uses electrical power to operate - - whether plug-in or with batteries - - is covered under this directive. Some of Mouser's inventory includes test equipment, soldering irons, heat guns, UPS, battery chargers, ESD testing equipment, solder pots, lighted magnifiers, and others.

Directives

2012/19/EU of 4 July 2012 on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) (recast)

2002/96/EC of January 27, 2003 on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. (WEEE)

Toxic use Reduction Institute The Institute (TURI) researches, tests and promotes pollution prevention methods and alternatives to toxic chemicals used in Massachusetts' industries and communities.

Environmental Protection Agency Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Program The TRI is a publicly available EPA database that contains information on toxic chemical releases and other waste management activities that are reported annually by certain industry groups, as well as federal facilities.

Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse (TPCH) The TPCH was formed in 1992 to promote the Model Toxics in Packaging Legislation in the US.

California Department of Toxic Substance Control

California's Appliance Efficiency Program