Position paper on the Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS Directive / ElektroStoffV)

Transcription

1 Valves Position paper on the Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS Directive / ElektroStoffV) Consequences for the building valves industry Last update: VDMA German Engineering Federation Valve Manufacturers Association Chairman: Rupprecht Kemper Managing Director: Wolfgang Burchard Lyoner Str. 18 D Frankfurt am Main Germany Phone Fax armaturen@vdma.org Internet VDMA Technology Serving People

2 The content has been created with due care and to the best of our knowledge. The German Engineering Federation (VDMA) shall assume no liability for the content of this paper. Last update: VDMA

3 VDMA POSITION PAPER RoHS / ElektroStoffV 3 Content 1. Introduction 4 2. Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS) and ElektroStoffV Background of the ElektroStoffV Scopes of application Substance restrictions Exemptions 7 3. Large-scale fixed installations Definition of the ElektroStoffV Comment of the EU-Commission Drinking water installation as large-scale fixed installation Summary 12

4 4 VDMA POSITION PAPER RoHS / ElektroStoffV 1. Introduction On 21 July 2011, the revised EU Directive Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS) went into effect; this Directive governs the restriction of usage of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. It is superseded by the German Electrical and Electronic Substance Ordinance (ElektroStoffV) which took effect on 9 May Manufacturers of building valves with electronic components have asked ever since to what extent their products are affected by the Ordinance provisions and how these products have to comply with the substance restrictions given within - particularly in relation to lead and hexavalent chromium. The handling of customer requirements in accordance with a RoHS declaration of conformity also requires clarification. The present position paper explains the central contents of the RoHS Directive and the ElektroStoffV. It describes the scopes of application and the exemptions. The question Are drinking water facilities large-scale fixed installations? assumes a central role in this context. This is because the answer to this question will decide whether the Ordinance also applies to building valves with electronic components which come into contact with drinking water. Not only the regulations of RoHS and ElektroStoffV are significant for the answer, however; the EU Commission`s comments of 12 December 2012 explaining what can be deemed as large-scale fixed installations are also significant. The position paper also refers to these comments therefore complying with the request laid out in the EU paper for each manufacturer and any other business participant to check for themselves the extent to which their product is affected by the scope of the Directive or actually benefit from its exemptions.

5 VDMA POSITION PAPER RoHS / ElektroStoffV 5 2. RoHS and ElektroStoffV After it took effect on 21 July 2011, the EU member states were required to nationally implement the revised RoHS Directive by 2 January This was achieved in Germany in the form of the ElektroStoffV, which was adopted somewhat behind schedule on 19 April 2013 and took effect following its publication in the Federal Law Gazette on 9 May Background of the ElektroStoffV The ElektroStoffV applies in general to the launching and supplying of new electrical and electronic devices on the market. The former German Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (ElektroG) was amended by Article 1 of the Law on Amending the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act, as of 3 May 2013, and is now exclusively being used for the national implementation of the WEEE Directive (Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment). 2.2 Scopes of application According to the ElektroStoffV, electrical and electronic devices from the following categories are affected by its provisions: 1. Large household appliances; 2. Small household appliances; 3. Equipment used in information and telecommunication technology; 4. Consumer electronics equipment; 5. Lighting fixtures; 6. Electrical and electronic tools; 7. Toys and sports and recreational equipment;, 8. Medical devices; 9. Monitoring and control instruments, including those used in industry; 10. Automatic output devices; 11. Other electrical and electronic devices not falling under the numbers 1 to 10.

6 6 VDMA POSITION PAPER RoHS / ElektroStoffV In contrast to the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act, Item 11 is used to introduce an additional equipment category and an open scope of application, which is intended to successively include all electrical and electronic equipment 2.3 Substance restrictions According to Article 4(1) of the RoHS Directive, EU member states are to ensure that any electrical and electronic devices brought into circulation, including spare parts, do not contain any of the substances listed in Annex II. To be precise, this means that they are not to exceed the respective permitted highest concentration in homogeneous materials in terms of percentage weight. Homogeneous material can be understood as being of a consistently uniform composition that cannot be broken down or separated into different materials by means of mechanical processes. Annex II of the RoHS Directive contains the following substances to which the 0.1% concentration limit applies in each case (exception of cadmium: 0.01%): Lead Mercury Cadmium Hexavalent chromium Polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) ElektroStoffV has adopted these restrictions and set them out in Section 3(1) as the prerequisite for placing electrical and electronic devices on the market. The delegated Directive 2015/863/EU published in the Official Journal of the EU on 4 June 2015 added four more substances to Annex II. These concern plasticisers (phthalates) rated as a serious cause for concern and for which the EU is of the opinion that substitute products are available that have less harmful effects. They must also constitute less than the highest concentration of 0.1% in homogeneous materials: Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalat (DEHP) Butylbenzylphthalat (BBP) Dibutylphthalat (DBP) Diisobutylphthalat (DIBP)

7 VDMA POSITION PAPER RoHS / ElektroStoffV 7 These substance restrictions apply as of 22 July 2019 to all equipment categories with the exception of medical devices and monitoring and control instruments. They are to be implemented by national law by 31 December 2016; this means adopted into an amended version of ElektroStoffV. 2.4 Exemptions According to 1 (2), the Ordinance does not apply to the following electrical and electronic equipment: 1. Devices required for the essential security interests of the Federal Republic of Germany, including weapons, munitions and defence material for military purposes; 2. Equipment to be used in outer space; 3. Devices which a) are especially designed as a component of another type of device which is either exempted from this Ordinance, or does not fall under the scope of application of this Ordinance, and which are to be installed in this other device; b) can fulfill their function solely as a component of this device and c) can be replaced solely by identical devices; 4. Large-scale stationary industrial tools; 5. Large-scale fixed installations; 6. Modes of transport for passengers or freight with the exception of electrically driven two-wheeled vehicles which are not type approved; 7. Mobile machines; 8. Active implantable medical devices; 9. Photovoltaic modules designed to be used in a system which was professionally designed, assembled and installed by continuous operation at a fixed location for the generation of electricity from solar radiation energy for public, municipal, commercial, industrial and private applications; 10. Devices which were designed exclusively for purposes of research and development and are provided solely at the inter-company level.

8 8 VDMA POSITION PAPER RoHS / ElektroStoffV Furthermore, there are individual uses which are explicitly exempt from substance restrictions. These are listed in Annex III and IV of the RoHS Directive. Annex III also includes exemptions related to alloys that are partly used to manufacture building valves: 6a) Lead used as an alloy element in steel for processing purposes and in galvanised steel with a maximum lead content of 0,35 %. 6b) Lead used as an alloy element in aluminium with a maximum lead content of 0,4 %. 6c) Copper alloy with a lead content of up to 4 %. However, manufacturers are not to rely on these exceptions especially in 6c). These will be valid for a maximum period of 5 years as of 21 July 2011 for equipment categories 1 to 7 and 10, and a maximum of 7 years for categories 8 and 9. This means, the exemptions are to be resubmitted regularly. If this does not occur, or use is no longer approved (e.g. because a non-hazardous substitute product has been identified) then, for example, use of a copper alloy with a lead content of up to 4 % will no longer be allowed.

9 VDMA POSITION PAPER RoHS / ElektroStoffV 9 3. Large-scale fixed installations The ElektroStoffV refers to large-scale fixed installations in the list of exemptions. Both the Ordinance and an accompanying paper of the EU Commission explain the meaning of this. 3.1 Definition ElektroStoffV Paragraph 2 of the ElektroStoffV, Item 3, contains a definition of a large-scale fixed installation : A large-scale arrangement of various types of devices and possibly additional equipment which a) are professionally assembled and installed and b) are intended for permanent operation at a fixed location and are to be dismantled by qualified professionals. The Ordinance provides additional information on the definition of a large-scale fixed installation in its statement regarding Item 3 (Part B for Section 2(3)): Large-scale fixed installations can be found both in industrial, commercial, public (e.g. in hospitals, at the airport) and private/household applications (e.g. residential complexes). Large installations are then considered stationary if no change of location is planned during the usage phase. ( ) Examples of large-scale fixed installations include lifts, luggage conveyors, automated inventory systems, transport systems, and escalators. At the same time, reference is made at this point to a Frequently asked questions document of the European Commission which should clarify additional questions about the definition of a large-scale fixed installation.

10 10 VDMA POSITION PAPER RoHS / ElektroStoffV 3.2 Comments of the EU-Commission The document containing additional explanations by the EU Commission was published under the title RoHS-FAQ on 12 December In accordance with this, a large-scale fixed installation is involved if it is too large when dismantled with all its components to transport in an ISO 20-foot container with the dimensions 5.71 m x 2.35 m x 2.39 m; it weighs more than 44 tons when it is dismantled with all of its components and can no longer be transported by truck; it must be assembled or dismantled by a heavy-duty crane; its output is higher than 375 kw. The EU document includes an additional indicator which speaks for a large-scale fixed installation when it is difficult to determine its size, output and weight: its complexity. A crucial factor is that the installation contains several hundred components which are linked to various subsystems and jointly contribute to the function of the installation. 3.3 Drinking water installation as large-scale fixed installation A drinking water installation fulfils the requirements which apply to a large-scale fixed installation in accordance with Section 2(3) of the ElektroStoffV as it is a large-scale arrangement of devices; is intended for permanent operation at a fixed location; is professionally assembled and installed. The latter is explicitly required in Germany by the Ordinance regarding General Conditions for Water Supplies (AVBWasserV). The following statement can be found in Section 12(2): The (water supply) system and major modifications may only be carried out by the water utility company or an installation company registered in the installation directory of a water utility company. In addition to this, the drinking water installation represents a complex system which extends over several storeys of a house and may consist of numerous components, such

11 VDMA POSITION PAPER RoHS / ElektroStoffV 11 as water meters, outlet valves, water softeners, backflow preventers and system separators. Drinking water installations are also components of private and domestic housing complexes where, according to the rationale of the ElektroStoffV, large-scale fixed installations can be found. However, when disassembled, the individual parts of a drinking water installation can generally fit easily into an ISO container and be transported by truck (with the exception of installations in very large buildings). This still does not represent a decisive factor in assessing this as a large-scale fixed installation, as the characterization in terms of the EU Commission paper (see above) is not legally watertight; it is only intended as a rough guide for cases where binding stipulations (see above) made within the framework of the RoHS Directive/ElektroStoffV cannot be clearly applied. Ultimately, the EU FAQ document expressly refers to the responsibility of the manufacturers, who are to determine for themselves to what extent their product and/or installation is affected by the exemptions of the RoHS Directive.

12 12 VDMA POSITION PAPER RoHS / ElektroStoffV 4. Summary In accordance with the provisions of the ElektroStoffV, Section 2(3), a drinking water installation together with its installed building valves may be deemed a large-scale fixed installation. By reason of Section 1(2)(5), it is therefore exempted from the scope of application of the Ordinance. A RoHS declaration of conformity for building valves with electronic components as part of a large-scale fixed installation by means of CE-labeling is therefore not possible. Manufacturers are not bound by the substance restrictions set out in the RoHS Directive/ElektroStoffV. Contact: Stefan Oberdörfer VDMA Valves Frankfurt / Main Phone: stefan.oberdoerfer@vdma.org