EU - The Renewal of RoHS Exemption for the Use of Mercury in CFLs for General Lighting Purposes

​By Delegated Directive 2014/14/EU, the European Commission granted an exemption for the use of mercury, with a maximum content of 3,5 mg, in single capped (compact) fluorescent lamps for general lighting purposes < 30 W with a lifetime equal or above 20 000 h, which is now listed as exemption 1(g) in Annex III to Directive 2011/65/EU. The exemption was to expire on December 31, 2017.

On June 28, 2016, the Commission received an application for renewal of the exemption, that was updated with a renewed application on January 17, 2020. In accordance with Article 5(5) of Directive 2011/65/EU, the exemption remains valid until a decision on the renewal application has been adopted.

After the evaluation, the Commission concluded that sufficiently reliable mercury-free substitutes for the lamp types covered by the exemption are available and that the substitution is scientifically and technically practicable. Furthermore, that evaluation concluded that the benefits of substitution will clearly outweigh any negative impact. Therefore, an expiry date for this exemption is set for this exemption entry as follows:

​1(g) For general lighting purposes < 30 W with a lifetime equal or above 20 000 h: 3,5 mg, Expires on August 24, 2023