The Members of the European Parliament, on May 20 2015, vetoed a RoHS exemption for cadmium in illumination and display lighting applications, claiming that the exemption was no longer necessary. Although the exemption is only used in very specific applications and will not affect most EEE manufacturers, it sets a disconcerting precedent that the parliament will no longer automatically approve all new exemptions and renewals that are approved by the Commission and the RoHS technical adaption committee (TAC).
RoHS Annex III exemption 39 “Cadmium in colour converting II-VI LEDs (less than 10 microgram Cd per mm2 of light-emitting area) for use in solid state illumination or display systems” was set to expire on 1 July 2014. A manufacturer (QD-Vision) submitted in December 2012 a renewal request to extend the exemption to 2019. After the public consultation and consultant’s assessment, the Commission and the TAC agreed to reword and extend the exemption as shown below:
In Annex III to Directive 2011/65/EU, point 39 is replaced by the following:
| 39(a) | Cadmium in colour converting II-VI LEDs (< 10 μg Cd per mm2 of light-emitting area) for use in solid state illumination or display systems | Expires on 30 June 2017 |
|---|---|---|
| 39(b) | Cadmium in downshifting cadmium based semiconductor nanocrystal quantum dots for use in display lighting applications (< 0.2 μg Cd per mm2 of display screen area) | Expires on 30 June 2018 |
The current exemption (39) remains in effect while the three arms of the EU government reconcile the status of the exemption.
The European Parliament voted down the exemption by a strong majority (618 votes to 33 and 28 abstentions) arguing that alternate technologies that do not use cadmium are readily available.
This exemption only affects a small number of manufacturers. The more disconcerting impact for industry is that Parliament has served notice that it may be looking over the Commission’s shoulder during the current renewal of most Annex III exemptions.