Final Report Summary - GREENROSE (Removal of hazardous Substances in Electronics: Processes and Techniques for SMEs)
The main technological objective of the GREENROSE project was to provide European Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of the electronics sector with the knowledge and tools to produce electronic equipment free of hazardous substances (in particular, lead-free soldered and halogen free) with guaranteed quality and reliability. This environmentally sound electronic production is the new environmental and business challenge as reflected in European legislation - Directive on the Restriction of certain hazardous substances (ROHS), Directive on Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), Directive on establishing a framework for eco-design of End use equipment (EUE) - and in a worldwide trend towards 'green electronics'.
Three extensive reports on hazardous materials in electronics and substitutes were produced by the second year under the leadership of ITRI and were distributed through the Industry association groups (IAGs) and ITRI. Road mapping and technology implementation checklists were prepared by TUB and by the SMEs and were distributed and applied internally within the project.
The reports on hazardous materials and their substitution will help the electronic industry to establish knowledge on what they should look after when they change their products and processes to comply with the ROHS Directive. It would have been very costly and difficult for the European SMEs to do the work done in GREENROSE by themselves.
The development and testing of new solders and soldering processes are giving results that will be very useful for the SMEs. The wide range of Printed circuit boards (PCBs) and solders tested in the project give the SMEs possibilities to choose between several different solutions when they decide on their future production processes.
The information gathered in the project was implemented in the training material that was finished spring 2006 and workshops have been held in the partners countries by the IAGs with the assistance of the research and SME partners.
Three extensive reports on hazardous materials in electronics and substitutes were produced by the second year under the leadership of ITRI and were distributed through the Industry association groups (IAGs) and ITRI. Road mapping and technology implementation checklists were prepared by TUB and by the SMEs and were distributed and applied internally within the project.
The reports on hazardous materials and their substitution will help the electronic industry to establish knowledge on what they should look after when they change their products and processes to comply with the ROHS Directive. It would have been very costly and difficult for the European SMEs to do the work done in GREENROSE by themselves.
The development and testing of new solders and soldering processes are giving results that will be very useful for the SMEs. The wide range of Printed circuit boards (PCBs) and solders tested in the project give the SMEs possibilities to choose between several different solutions when they decide on their future production processes.
The information gathered in the project was implemented in the training material that was finished spring 2006 and workshops have been held in the partners countries by the IAGs with the assistance of the research and SME partners.