Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2017/1009
of 13 March 2017
amending, for the purposes of adapting to technical progress, Annex III to Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards an exemption for cadmium and lead in filter glasses and glasses used for reflectance standards
(Text with EEA relevance)
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Whereas:
Directive 2011/65/EU prohibits the use of lead and cadmium in electrical and electronic equipment placed on the market.
Optical filter glasses containing cadmium or lead are used in a wide variety of optical applications for many types of electrical and electronic equipment. Both cadmium and lead are used because of the unique optical properties that their use enables, such as ‘sharp cut-off’ in the visible spectrum that is unaffected by viewing angle.
Though various substitution routes exist, substitutes do not provide sufficient cut-off performance for all applications. In the few cases where alternatives are said to supply sufficient performance in this respect, the materials used are too sensitive to environmental conditions of operation and thus not sufficiently reliable.
In this sense, alternatives are still not suitable for many applications, for which finding alternatives is complicated and time-demanding, thus five years is a justified duration for the categories 1 to 7 and 10.
Certain optical filter glasses containing cadmium and/or lead should therefore be exempted until 21 July 2021 for categories 1 to 7 and 10. In view of the innovation cycles for the electrical and electronic equipment affected, the duration of this exemption is unlikely to have adverse impacts on innovation.
Directive 2011/65/EU should therefore be amended accordingly,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: