WEEE & ELV

WEEE - Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment

The WEEE directive is designed to reduce the amount of consumer electrical and electronic equipment that, once it reaches the end of its working life, would otherwise end up in a landfill. It is designed to work in harmony with the RoHS directive by recycling as much equipment as possible, and thereby further reducing the amount of other substances potentially causing a pollution risk. This Directive was also finalised in 2003, and is currently in its final stages of implementation. The complete text of the directive can be found at this location: Directive 2002/96/EC on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)

Harwin does not supply any electrical or electronic equipment to any of its markets, and therefore is not affected directly by the WEEE Directive. However, the further objective of WEEE may possibly be expanded into other equipment or machinery in the future. Once the full impact of RoHS is realised, then Harwin will start to consider any tooling equipment and the methods of disposal.

ELV - End of Life Vehicle

The ELV Directive pre-dates the WEEE and RoHS Directives, it was formalised in 2000, and came into force from July 2003. The Directive is designed to limit the amount of waste arising from the disposal of motor vehicles at the end of their useful life. The complete text of the directive can be found at this location: Directive 2000/53/EC on end-of life vehicles

There are two sides to the legislation, the first is the requirement for the manufacturer to consider the recycling of as much of the vehicle as possible, and take responsibility for the disposal and treatment of the rest. The second is to reduce the potential for hazardous substances to reach landfill, in a similar method to RoHS. The list of hazardous substances reads similar to RoHS:

Lead (Pb)
Mercury (Hg)
Cadmium (Cd)
Hexavalent Chromium (Cr6)

At the time of this legislation, Solder in electronic circuit boards was actually an exempt category. However, with the advent of RoHS, car manufacturers can now choose our compliant products, and know that they are exceeding the requirements of ELV.