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74 The PCB Magazine • March 2016 In a previous Tech Talk, I pointed out that "green" and "environmentally friendly" are ill- defined terms. In general, these terms refer to manufacturing that involves the replacement of toxic substances with less toxic materials, the elimination of materials or processing steps, less consumption of chemicals (i.e., more effi- cient or higher yield processing), reduction of water use, reduction of energy use, less space requirement (i.e., smaller equipment footprint), recycling, and on-site recovery of materials. The following list highlights critical regulations that impact electronic manufacturing. A. An overview of regulations that impact materials and processes used in the fabrication of electronic devices. RoHS: The RoHS Directive stands for "the restric- tion of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment." This directive bans the placing on the EU market of new electrical and electronic equipment con- taining more than agreed levels of lead, cadmi- um, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybro- minated biphenyl (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants. Manufacturers need to understand the re- quirements of RoHS to ensure that their prod- ucts, and their components, comply. WEEE: Directive 2002/96/EC of the European Par- liament and of the Council of 27 January 2003 on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). This regulation addresses the disposal and recycling of electronic equipment. REACH: REACH: Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18. December 2006 concerning the Regis- tration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restric- by Karl H. Dietz KARl DIETz ConsulTInG llC Green Legislation and the Impact on Electronic Materials and Processes karl's teCh talk 74 The PCB Magazine • March 2016