Reduction of hazardous materials in electrical and electronic equipment

Electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), in addition to including precious and other valuable and scarce metals, contains toxic substances. Starting at the turn of the 21st century, governments began to legally restrict the use of well-known hazardous substances such as lead, cadmium, mercury, and hexavalent chromium. The templates for such various legislations worldwide is European Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive 2011/65/EU and Restriction, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006. Restrictions on lead, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, and mercury have considerably reduced the amounts of these substances used in EEE since 2006. Nevertheless, due to exemptions, several thousand tonnes of lead, as well as other restricted substances, are still used in new EEE. The RoHS directive has considerably reduced EEE toxicity. E-waste is increasingly generated in developing countries and countries with market economies in transition. At the same time, these countries are the target of e-waste exports from developed countries, mostly in combination with used electrical and electronic equipment. Hazardous substances in EEE cause extensive damage in these countries due to inappropriate treatment at end of life. Even though the substitution of hazardous substances in EEE can make sense, the example of lead substitution reveals that a simple ban-and-chase policy for complex products such as EEE may provoke manifold unwanted environmental and economic side effects. A more differentiated and holistic approach is therefore necessary, one that accounts for the actual environmental and health risks related to the use of hazardous substances compared with their substitutes, as well as more eco-efficiency-oriented measures to achieve a result that contributes to sustainable development.