Turning Green

So much for standards.
 
The European Restriction of Hazardous Substances directive has been riddled with misinformation, misjudgment and promises of missed deadlines. And that’s even before the standards are implemented. Just wait until the real deadline hits on July 1.
 
Even from the outset problems began to appear. For starters, there are at least two distinct pronunciations of RoHS. It’s spoken alternately as one syllable that sounds like “rose,” or two that make it sound like some rodeo roundup yell (think Roe Haas). For those who don’t want to put their pronunciation in jeopardy of ridicule, they simply spell it out.
 
But that’s just the tip of this thing. RoHS has become a political football, and politicians from every walk of life are looking to capitalize on what is a growing part of the green revolution. There will be state regulations and federal regulations, and there will be different regulations from one country to another and from one continent to another. There will even be differing regulations from one industry to another.
 
Enforcement will be local, or it will be policed by industry. Or, in some cases, it won’t even be given a cursory glance. Products coming out of China are expected to be fully compliant — or maybe not — but far fewer products sold inside of China are likely to comply with the tough new standards.
 
Even when enforcers do find something — and that could literally require taking something apart with a buzz saw — it’s uncertain what the punishment will be. There is no case law and now precedent for anything like this. Will products be frozen on the docks or on the shelves? Will they be pulled from the market, and just how forcibly? Will there be a black market for products that have lead or other substances, and will they be removed from buyers’ homes? Will those countries that have filed for extensions find products moving across borders to avoid prosecution?
 
These are serious issues to be resolved, and they are not to be taken lightly. How, for instance, are you going to tell a 10-year-old that the electronic toy he just received for Christmas is a threat to the future of civilization? Will he be given a new and compliant version, or will he have to seek retribution in a court of law? And what will be done with all the products that are pulled from the shelves? Will they simply end up back on other shelves?
 
While the Y2K threat was very real, it was a threat to how business operated. And for all the anticlimactic behavior as Jan. 1, 2000, rolled around, much of the problem was indeed prevented by extensive work ahead of time. In the case of RoHS, much of the work will come after the rules are in place — and after all the extensions have lapsed.
 
If all works as planned — and even if it doesn’t work as planned — we are headed for one of the biggest and messiest bureaucratic tie-ups in the history of electronics. What started out with the best of intentions is about to be bogged down in the worst of execution. And if anyone ever wondered why government and business don’t mix, or just in case they forgot, they’re in for a healthy slap in the face after these rules take effect.
 
There are many shades of green, and not all of them are good.