The European Commission worked for many years to understand the environmental effect of electronic and electrical waste, and concluded that the volume, the toxic content and the relative ease of recovering and recycling important materials justified wide action. The RoHS and WEEE Directives were finalised in December 2002, and member states are in the process of changing them into law.

This Legislation will directly affect the solder and electronic assembly industries. It will have impact not just on solder alloys but on temperature ratings, component and board finishes. Although the RoHS Directive covers five groups of hazardous materials, lead has been the focus of much of the attention due to its widespread applications.

How lead reaches the human body
Electronic components are connected to the electronic circuit boards that are the heart of modern electronic equipment using solder, which up to now has been made of an alloy of tin (Sn) and lead (Pb). These boards are becoming ever more thickly crowded with components, to give them as many functions as possible and to make them smaller and cheaper. This makes it increasingly difficult to recycle them. Some equipment is reclaimed, but most circuit boards are simply crushed and buried as "special industrial waste".

Click here to enlarge image. Image: Courtesy of Toshiba.	When soldered (Sn-Pb) circuit boards are scrapped and buried:
	1. Acid rain gradually dissolves lead out of the solder 2. The subsurface water then becomes polluted with lead compounds 3. The polluted subsurface water is taken into the human body as drinking water (lead affects the human nervous system and causes a range of serious problems.)

Arrow's Global Commitment
Arrow is committed to providing efficient, responsible, global environmental solutions that help our customers meet the challenges of environmental compliance.

It is clear that the many environmental regulations being implemented throughout the world will affect everyone in the electronics industry. Lead is getting the most publicity because of its prevalence in solder, but other substances such as mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, and a number of fire-retardant chemicals are also on the list of banned substances. Likewise, the European Union's RoHS and WEEE regulations are thought to be the biggest hurdle to overcome, but China, Japan, and several states in the US are quickly enacting their own recycling requirements and/or restrictions on hazardous substances. The reality is that regardless of where you do business, or what role you play in the supply chain, you will need to think about and plan for "Going Green".

We believe that the key to successful transition planning is based on:
1.     Access to timely and reliable information
2.     Proactive planning and communication with your supply partners
3.     The ability to take action - even in the face of uncertainty around
legislative requirements - and the flexibility to adjust your approach as required.

As a trusted supply chain partner to thousands of customers and hundreds of suppliers around the world, Arrow has built a business in helping our partners manage the complexity related to a host of industry challenges.

The links to Product Change Notification information (including Lead-free related PCNs) are sent directly to customers who purchased the parts undergoing the change.