C-COR Incorporated - Compliance with the RoHS and WEEE Directives
The Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive 2002/95/EC issued by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union lists six substances that are limited from inclusion in electronic equipment above threshold levels. Among those substances, lead is a common constituent of solders as well as a plating finish for many components. Lead in solder is necessary to form the most reliable interconnections. At this time there is no proven substitute for lead that will provide the same level of reliability. As a result the Directive includes the following two exemptions in its Annex:
- High melting temperature solder that contains 85% or more lead. (This type of solder is used in the construction of some components found in C-COR products.)
- The use of lead in solders for network infrastructure equipment for switching, signaling, transmission as well as network management for telecommunications. (C-COR uses lead-bearing solders in the assembly of circuit boards.)
Per our legal counsel and guidance from the Dept. of Trade and Industry (UK), the three criteria to define network infrastructure equipment are:
- Any system used for routing, switching, signaling, transmission, or network management or network security;
- Any system which can simultaneously enable more than one end user terminating equipment to connect to a network;
- Any system in a network except for end user terminating equipment such as voice terminals and facsimile machines.
The premier platforms that C-COR produces, identified below, meet all three criteria:
CHP Max5000 -- Headend Optics -- CHP-*
Flex Max 331 -- Line extender -- FML1GxJ-*
Flex Max 901e --Trunk & Bridger Amplifiers -- FMTEGxJ-*, FMB1GPJ-*
Opti Max3100 -- Mid size node -- OM31GJ-*
Opti Max4100 -- Segmentable Node -- OM41Gx-*
n5 Video Server family
(* = balance of model number)
It is C-COR’s position that the unknown long-term reliability of currently available lead-free solders and their processes makes them unacceptable to support the high reliability standards that the applications for our products require. Accordingly, the products that C-COR produces are self-declared as exempt from RoHS solely in regards to the lead in solders and plated solderable component terminations. A third party consulting firm specializing in this area has affirmed our exemption status.
With the exception of lead in solder and component plating, all other materials requirements of the Directive are met.
C-COR will proactively plan for continued RoHS compliance to facilitate a rapid transition once the issues of solder joint reliability are adequately resolved through the following initiatives:
- Actively specify only RoHS-compliant parts (where/as available) on new designs;
- Update component databases to compliant materials as they become available;
- Analyze and upgrade internal and external manufacturing processes to latest no-lead chemistries as their reliability is established.
The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive (2002/96/EC) of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union is intended to recapture equipment for reuse or recycling that was placed in service after Aug. 2005 and is at its practical end-of-life. The primary responsibility for this collection rests with the producer although there several alternatives allowed via third-party services.
C-COR is presently labeling all of its equipment with the appropriate WEEE-mandated labels. C-COR is in the process of registering with each EC state per WEEE directive requirements as the procedures for doing that for each state are defined. Additionally, C-COR has adopted a policy of working with its many EC customers on an individual basis for the return and recycling of WEEE that was sold by C-COR after Aug. 2005.
C-COR will make the latest compliance information regarding specific model numbers available upon request. Please contact your C-COR representative for further information on C-COR’s compliance with either the RoHS or WEEE initiatives.
