Seminar poll shows slow progress on Pb-free conversion.Boston -- A poll of more than 50 attendees of recent workshops on the business implications of lead-free manufacturing revealed just 18% of respondents actively working on alternatives to lead. [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII ASCII or American Standard Code for Information Interchange, a set of codes used to represent letters, numbers, a few symbols, and control characters. Originally designed for teletype operations, it has found wide application in computers. ] The vast majority--80%--of those responding remains in the beginning stages of preparations for the phaseout phase·out n. A gradual discontinuation. . And no respondents indicated they have converted completely. The European Union European Union (EU), name given since the ratification (Nov., 1993) of the Treaty of European Union, or Maastricht Treaty, to the European Community has decreed through a pair of mandates known as the Restriction on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) and the Waste in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE WEEE Waste from Electric and Electronic Equipment (directive) WEEE Waste Electrical and Electronics Equipment WEEE Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment ) that all products sold in Europe after July 1, 2006, be free of lead and several other hazardous materials. (For copies of RoHS and WEEE see circuitsassembly.com.) The poll was conducted during seminars held the week of Sept. 26 in Orange, CA, and San Jose San Jose, city, United States San Jose (sănəzā`, săn hōzā`), city (1990 pop. 782,248), seat of Santa Clara co., W central Calif.; founded 1777, inc. 1850. . The seminar, Introduction to Lead-Free, is sponsored by Design Chain Associates (designchainassociates.com) and EPTAC (eptac.com) in conjunction with UP Media Group, publisher of CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY. Those polled said they are worried about everything from fundamental process issues to component sourcing, how exemptions are granted and contractual liability for recycling recycling, the process of recovering and reusing waste products—from household use, manufacturing, agriculture, and business—and thereby reducing their burden on the environment. . The seminar scored high marks with attendees: 75% rated the speakers "very good" or "excellent." For more information on the seminar, visit pcbshows.com/leadfree. SLOW GOING: Pb-Free Conversion Poll Evaluating need: 13 Developing plan of attack: 19 Plan in place: 1 Going through conversion 7 Completed: 0 Did not respond: 13 Survey conducted Sept. 30-Oct. 1. |
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