Study to support the review of the list of restricted substances and to assess a new exemption request under RoHS 2 (Pack 15)
Part 1 Substance review
Oeko-Institut and Fraunhofer IZM are preparing a “Study on the review of the list of restricted substances and to assess a new exemption request under RoHS 2 – Pack 15”. In the first part of the study, titled substance review, the study should provide technical and scientific support in view of the following tasks:
- Task 1: Update the existing methodology to identify and assess substances for possible restriction - In the course of this task an update of the Austrian Umweltbundesamt (AUBA) Draft Manual Methodology for Identification and Assessment of Substances for Inclusion in the List of Restricted Substances (Annex II) under the RoHS 2 Directive1, shall be performed. The methodology shall be based on Recital 10 and Article 6 of the directive. The updated methodology shall not include or imply provisions other than those listed in Article 6.
- Task 2: Assess substances with a view to the review and amendment of the RoHS Annex II list of restricted substances. Seven substances have been pre-determined by the Commission for this task (see technical specifications). The detailed assessment shall be carried out in line with the updated methodology to be prepared in task 1 and shall be presented in the form of a substance dossier for each of the seven substances. This exercise shall include an assessment of impacts in case of a possible restriction.
- Task 3: Determination of the quantitative usage data for substances used in EEE. This task shall be carried out for a list of prioritized substances used in EEE. Where quantitative usage data shall not be available, a magnitude ranking shall be performed, with a view to a refined prioritisation for future restriction review cycles
Information for the above mentioned tasks shall be collected through the survey of available literature, through direct consultation and through stakeholder consultation. In this respect, three stakeholder consultations are currently expected as detailed below:
- 2018 Stakeholder Consultation 1 aims to collect information on seven substances to be assessed under task 2. The consultation has been held (20 April 2018 - 15 June 2018) and its results can be found under this Link.
- 2018 Stakeholder Consultation 2 aims at receiving input and comments as to the substance review methodology manual draft to be prepared under task 1. This consultation also aims at collecting information on the use of substances in electric and electronic equipment (EEE) under the scope of the RoHS Directive for the purpose of updating the inventory of substances present in EEE under task 1. The consultation is being held (26 October 2018 - 21 December 2018) and it can be found under this Link.
- 2018 Stakeholder Consultation 3 aims at receiving further information as to the seven substances under assessment in Task 2. This consultation also aims at collecting information on a selection of substances from the inventory of substances present in EEE for the purpose of their prioritization in task 3. The consultation is planned to be launched in the future.
In the course of the study, a first meeting has been held with participants of the Commission’s Substance Review Expert Working Group on the approach to be applied in the preparation of the tasks detailed above. The following documents are available as documentation of this meeting and provide some insight on the tasks to be performed and the expected timelines of the study:
- Presentation of the consultant, PDF
- Summary of meeting proceedings, PDF
Should there be any mistakes or uncertainties we apologise for the inconvenience and kindly ask you to provide us with a short indication (rohs.exemptions(at)oeko.de)
[1] AUBA (2013), Draft Manual Methodology for Identification and Assessment of Substances for Inclusion in the List of Restricted Substances (Annex II) under the RoHS 2 Directive, Prepared by the Environment Agency of Austria Umweltbundesamt GmbH in the framework of the Study for the Review of the List of Restricted Substances under RoHS 2; Reference: ENV.C.2/ETU/2012/0021