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Rethinking production processes for a more sustainable product portfolio. The entire metalworking sector and the electrical industry are faced with the task of developing products without lead or other substances that are hazardous to the environment and to health.
We need to look at our entire value chain through sustainability glasses, eliminate substances that are hazardous to the environment and health, and find alternatives.
Torsten Janwlecke, President Business Area Device Connectors at Phoenix Contact
A clean deal for more sustainability
Lead harms people and the environment. For Phoenix Contact, doing without lead as much as possible is part of acting sustainably. Behind this is the goal of making an important contribution to a better quality of life. As a metal processing company, we at Phoenix Contact bear a special responsibility towards the environment and health. Consequently, we started early to develop processes that allow us to manufacture electromechanical products lead-free¹ with the same technical properties and the usual quality.
¹ The designation lead-free refers to the future limit value of 0.1 percent in the RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) directive of the European Parliament.
Pioneering work for accustomed quality
The technical properties of lead mean that abandoning it results in entirely new challenges in industrial manufacturing. In copper alloys, for example, lead makes them easier to machine and cold-form. Lead also acts as an effective lubricant. If you want to do without these properties, you have to do the groundwork in production. Phoenix Contact took on the task of producing lead-free earlier than other companies. The conversion is considered one of the most significant projects in the metalworking industry in the past 50 years. The engineers at Phoenix Contact have undoubtedly pioneered this long and difficult process.
New technical challenges
The switch to lead-free production processes is a particular challenge for all manufacturers of electronic parts. It involves complex conversions and high investments and ultimately also affects international supply chains. This becomes particularly clear when we look at the example of crimp contacts. The alloys used must conduct the current well and also have adequate machining and cold forming properties. This balancing act developed into a real supreme discipline for product developers. It also required close cooperation with suppliers, technology laboratories, and series production.
A head start through the early use of lead-free products
The choice is yours: Lead-free is a head start. At Phoenix Contact, we see it as a clear corporate responsibility to make our value chain as sustainable as possible. The commitment is worthwhile – for the environment, health, and a future worth living.
RoHS-compliant and lead-free are often considered to mean the same thing. But there is a significant difference here: RoHS-compliant parts are those that comply with the limits set out in the European Parliament’s RoHS directive.
The limit for lead in the directive is 0.1 percent. The currently applicable limit due to Exemption 6c is 4 percent. The designation “lead-free” already refers to the future limit value of 0.1 percent.
All lead-free items from Phoenix Contact are listed via the filter selection “in accordance with RoHS 6c (Pb <0.1%)”, and can be found in the product list linked below.
The use of lead in the production process is problematic because lead is toxic. It accumulates in organisms along the food chain and is very difficult to break down there. It also leaks in part from landfills into nature, is very difficult to break down, and therefore accumulates in the natural cycle.
