This month, two European Union environmental laws - known as the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and Restriction of Use of Certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directives - will go into full effect, placing strict mandates on electronic-equipment waste and banning the use of lead, mercury, cadmium, and other hazardous materials in electronics sold into the market. Similar laws have been proposed in several other countries. China will implement its own RoHS regulation in March 2007.