RoHS Cost Pegged at $32 Billion

Folks,

Circuitnet recently had a posting stating that RoHS has cost industry, and hence we the consumer $32 billion. I’d say that’s about right. The article goes on to state that this is essentially 1.1% of the value of electronics production, this seems a bit low to me since about $1 trillion of electronics are manufactured world-wide each year.

Anyway, I imagine many are surprised and outraged at this “unwarranted tax”, arguing that no study has shown that RoHS protects the environment. Regular readers will remember that I continually point out that RoHS exists primarily to make recycling safer. As electronics products continue to grow in quantity, recycling will become pervasive. We all hope the recycling will be performed safely and should take some comfort that RoHS makes it easier and safer for a professional recycler to recycle.

However, as I have pointed out in a recent posting much recycling is and will continue to be done in third countries. So to me, paying $10 to $20 more for a $1000 PC to make it safer for the young boy in the above photo, from the January 2008 National Goegraphic, is a small price to pay.

Cheers,

Dr. Ron