WEEE - Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (2002/96/EC)

WEEE was originally prompted by the large amount of waste generated by household electrical and electronic equipment. Due to high volume and relatively short product lifetimes this equipment creates the majority of non-biodegradable landfill waste.

RoHS - Reduction of Hazardous Substances (2002/95/EC)

RoHS is intended to prevent hazardous substances such as lead from being manufactured in electrical and electronic equipment.

Category 6: Large Scale Industrial Tools

Annex 1A of Directive 2002/96/EC states that large-scale stationary industrial tools are exempt from the Directive.

The definition of "large-scale stationary industrial tools" has not been precisely defined but the general agreement is that they meet the following description:

A machine or system, consisting of a combination of equipment, systems or products, each of which is manufactured and intended to be used only in fixed industrial applications.

Examples: Machine Tools, Presses, Conveying Systems.

Not Covered: Hand tools.

If your products fall under this description then you may be exempt from RoHS.

Category 8: Medical Devices

Categories 8 and 9, which cover medical devices and measuring and control instruments, are exempt from RoHS requirements until which time the EU Commission includes them (estimates are that this will occur in 2008 or 2009).

Category 9: Monitoring and Control Instruments

Repair and Reuse

The directive does not apply to spare parts for the repair or to the reuse of electrical and electronic equipment put on the market before July 1, 2006.