Toshiba Announces Availability Of White Paper On Lead(Pb)-Free Manufacturing And Products

The guide is available as a PDF document at no cost from the TAEC Web site by visiting leadfree.toshiba.com, although registration is required. A printed version is also available by registering at this URL.

One of the current environmental initiatives facing both semiconductor and electronics manufacturers is to comply with a variety of regulations from jurisdictions around the world that will regulate or restrict the use of lead(Pb). This paper, authored by TAEC's Quality Assurance and Lead(Pb)-Free Implementation Team, addresses this pressing issue by presenting information on the industry initiative to transition to Lead(Pb)-Free products, along with technical details on Toshiba's Lead(Pb)-Free products, transition schedule, inventory management procedures and other related information.

"Lead(Pb)-Free manufacturing compliance is one of the most pressing issues facing semiconductor and electronic components manufacturers in today's global regulatory environment," said Stephen Marlow, executive vice president for TAEC. "As a technology leader, TAEC is making solutions available to enable our customers to comply with pending Lead(Pb)-Free legislation by implementing new manufacturing procedures using new materials. We developed this white paper to provide information on how such a transition may be engineered smoothly and effectively."

Lead(Pb)-Free Regulations
Various regulations and proposed regulations will regulate or restrict the use of lead(Pb) or impose additional requirements when lead(Pb) is used in products. For example, the European Community directives for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) state in Directive 2002/95/EC that the use of lead(Pb) and certain other substances must be regulated by July 1, 2006.

In the United States, at least 29 states have proposed or adopted legislation that will regulate or restrict the use of lead(Pb) or impose additional requirements for products that contain lead(Pb).