India RoHS

In May 2010 the Government of India Ministry of Environment and Forests proposed the draft notification of E-waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2010. Chapter V of the Ministry’s proposal titled Reduction in the use of hazardous substances (RoHS) in the manufacture of electrical and electronic equipment lists twenty substances in electrical and electronic equipment that will be restricted. The twenty substances are listed in the draft notification.

IPC, along with the India Printed Circuits Association (IPCA), submitted comments to the Indian Ministry expressing concerns over the restricting a broad list of substances with no scientific evaluation of those substances or potential alternatives. A scientific evaluation of substances for restriction must be conducted in order to ensure the alternatives provide a benefit to human health and the environment and achieve the Ministry’s goal of environmentally sound management of electrical and electronic equipment waste. In the comments we encouraged the Ministry to evaluate substances for restriction using strong scientific information. We also encouraged the Ministry to consider using the list of restricted substances in the EU RoHS Directive as the basis for developing substance restrictions.

In September 2010, India released a revised draft that takes IPC’s and IPCA’s comments into account and more closely aligns the regulation with the European Union RoHS Directive. Most importantly, the list of restricted substances was dwindled down to the six heavy metals restricted in the EU RoHS Directive.