RoHS Compliant vs. RoHS Compatible

Author: New Age Technologies

Abstract: The desire to reduce pollution within our environment has led to the RoHS directive in the EU that restricts the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. Since that time, this environmental standard has spread to other parts of the world. These are the early days of RoHS, and it is not a simple matter to say let’s switch our products to RoHS. As a designer or an executive involved in decisions to move to RoHS, it is important to understand the complexity of this decision. Many individuals believe that converting to RoHS is just a matter of selecting RoHS components and manufacturing with lead-free solder. The issue is that many parts may be RoHS compliant, but they cannot handle the more extreme RoHS manufacturing process. This article is intended to clarify what it means for a component to be RoHS compliant versus being RoHS compatible.

Published 2008