The Waste Electrial and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive

The RoHS and WEEE Directives
Citation
Purpose
Scope
Exemptions
Basic Operational Procedure
Producer compliance, obligations and marking requirements
Timescales
WEEE Directive in other Member States
Useful Links
Further Advice

The RoHS and WEEE Directives

The Restriction of the use of certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive and the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive were published at the same time and are linked in purpose. The WEEE Directive is aimed at reducing the amount of waste electrical and electronic equipment destined for landfill, whereas the RoHS Directive is aimed at eradicating certain hazardous substances from new electrical and electronic equipment in the first instance.

The WEEE Directive is far more complicated and involved than the RoHS Directive and is explained in more detail below. For information on the RoHS Directive, see our webpage. The most obvious link between the two Directives is that the RoHS Directive takes its scope largely from the WEEE Directive.

Citation

Directive 2002/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 27 January 2003, on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). Published in Official Journal L37, 13 February 2003. Amended by Directive 2003/108/EC on 8 December 2003 - Official Journal L 345, 31 December 2003.

In the UK a draft Statutory Instrument was published for comment on July 25th 2006. It can be downloaded from the DTI website along with the consultation, draft guidance and a regulatory impact assessment.

Purpose

The European Parliament and EU Council have set the goal of reducing the amount of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) going to landfill and reducing the hazardous substance content of Electronic and Electrical Equipment (EEE). This is in light of the fact that WEEE is Europe's fastest growing waste stream - growing at three times the rate of other wastes.

With regard to WEEE, this goal is to be achieved through a much more environmentally aware approach to all aspects of the EEE product cycle. This is to include improved product design to allow for ease of dismantling (for recycling or re-use) and provision for comprehensive separate WEEE collection systems. These will allow WEEE to be easily returned by consumers then collected, transported and processed effectively and economically. The financing of such schemes is mainly to fall on the producers, although the consumers will inevitably see the effects of the proposal in slightly raised product costs. Distinction is made between 'private households' and 'users other than private households', to ensure that no additional costs are incurred by private households when disposing of WEEE.

Scope

The WEEE Directive applies to all electrical and electronic equipment listed in the categories below, which is dependent on electric current or electromagnetic fields in order to work properly, and equipment for the generation, transfer and measurement of such currents and fields, and designed for use with a voltage rating not exceeding 1000V for AC and 1500V DC, provided that the equipment concerned is not part of another type of equipment that does not fall within the scope of the Directive;

• Large household appliances
• Small household appliances
• IT and telecommunications equipment
• Consumer equipment
• Lighting equipment
• Electrical and electronic tools (with the exception of large-scale stationary industrial tools)
• Toys, leisure and sports equipment
• Medical devices (with the exception of all implanted and infected products)
• Monitoring and control instruments
• Automatic dispensers

Click here for examples of products in each of the above categories. Although the above list covers a wide range of products and in most cases it is clear whether a product falls within the scope or not, there are many "grey area" products that are hard to classify. Helpful guidance can be found from a variety of sources regarding product classification (see links section below), but it is practically impossible to obtain any answer from a governmental organisation that does not carry a caveat along the lines of "Any guidance given is to be taken only as guidance. Only a court can decide authoritatively on the specifics of each case and manufacturers/importers are advised to obtain legal advice for themselves".

Exemptions

Excluded from category 6 (Electrical and electronic tools) are large scale industrial tools. These are defined as 'machines or systems, consisting of a combination of equipment, systems, finished products and/or components, each of which is designed to be used in industry only, permanently fixed and installed by professionals at a given place in an industrial machinery or in an industrial building to perform a specific task. They are not intended to be placed on the market as a single functional or commercial unit'.

Also exempt from the Directive is equipment specifically designed for military purposes.

Basic operational structure

The dictates of the WEEE Directive require a serious level of thought, management, coordination and effort from all levels of the EEE chain, including national and local government, EEE manufacturers, distributors, vendors and the consumers. As a consequence, the mechanisms of the WEEE Directive in the real world are not simple. Also, as this legislation is new (and significantly late to arrive in the UK), there will inevitably be a painful learning curve for all concerned until the process is absorbed, modified and fully integrated into the marketplace.

Basically the WEEE Directive aims to create mechanisms for consumers to conveniently put their WEEE into a waste stream that will be collected seperately from other waste, taken to a reprocessing facility, processed and logged and all accounted for by a responsible third party so the cost of it all can be fairly apportioned to producers. The following sections describe briefly the salient points of some of the main features of the draft legislation.

Defined/responsible groups
'Producers', 'Distributors', consumers (personal and business), local authorities or council waste management officers, operators of treatment, reprocessing or recovery facilities.

Producer Compliance Scheme (PCS)
A major cog in the WEEE machine is the concept of Producer Compliance Schemes. All producers of EEE must be a member of a PCS, ranging from a single member self-organised scheme to a large third party organised cooperative. Due to the administrative burden, and expense of registering each scheme, it is highly likely that most producers will choose to join a joint scheme. The PCS is the interface between producers and the Environment Agencies. The services they must provide are

• Registering members with the Environment Agency
• Reporting the amounts and types of EEE put onto the market by its members
• Declare compliance to the Environment Agency against its obligations for the collection, treatment, recycling and environmentally sound disposal of WEEE, arising from its members' sales
• Provide evidence to the appropriate Environment Agency in support of the above declarations
• They may also arrange the collection, treatment, recycling and environmentally sound disposal of WEEE, and, where appropriate, trade evidence with other PCSs to ensure that obligations are discharged.

Distributor Takeback Scheme (DTS), through Designated Collection Facilities (DCFs)
The first stage of the WEEE processing chain is collecting WEEE disposed of by consumers. One of the methods that will achieve this is a national Distributor Takeback Scheme which will establish a network of Designated Collection Facilities. This is to be tendered for. This will effectively provide a local facility for the consumer to discard WEEE, as an alternative to in-store take-back. Many of these DCFs are expected to be at local authorities' civic amenity sites.

Approved Treatment Facilities (ATFs) and Accredited reprocessing facilities
Organisations wishing to undertake treatment of WEEE must obtain a waste management licence (or registered exemption) and must operate in accordance with the terms of that licence (or exemption) as an Authorised Treatment Facility. Seperate organisations will also be required to exist who will be accredited reprocessors or accredited exporters for recycling and recovery. Evidence to demonstrate the processing of WEEE will be in the form of evidence notes. These will be in two parts; 1) Demonstrating the amount and type of WEEE that has reached an ATF for treatment, 2) demonstrating the amount and type of WEEE constituent material that has reached an accredited reprocessor or accredited exporter for recycling or recovery.

End of year settlement - the 'Exchange' system
The collection, treatment and accounting system for WEEE collected and dealt with must both demonstrate that the general national targets are met but also that each producer can demonstrate they have fulfilled their individual obligations. Because the WEEE will be collected and dealt with en-mass through national collective schemes, some collection sites and processing sites (and hence the manufacturers they are collecting for and processing on behalf of) will end up with surplus WEEE credit notes and some will end up with a deficit. The 'Exchange' system will be a centrally controlled organisation which will allow the trading of these credit notes to ensure all parties concerned are fairly represented and meet their targets.

Historical WEEE
According to the WEEE Directive itself, "the responsibility and the financing of the management of historical waste should be shared by all existing producers in collective financing schemes to which all producers, existing on the market when the costs occur, contribute proportionately" i.e. producers are allowed to show consumers at the point of sale of a new product, costs they have incurred in relation to recycling historic WEEE. However, if this cost is shown, it must not exceed the costs incurred in collecting, treating and recycling a similar WEEE product.

Producer compliance, obligations and marking requirements

Many groups in the EEE chain are affected by the WEEE Directive, but for the purposes of this web page only the requirements of the producers are covered, as these are the clients we deal most frequently with when assisting with WEEE Directive enquiries. Further information for other groups affected by the WEEE Directive can be found through the links on The Department of Trade and Industry web site, or alternatively by contacting us at Conformance.

The 'producer'
In the WEEE Directive a Producer is defined as Any person who, irrespective of the selling technique used;

• manufactures and sells EEE under his own brand
• resells under his own brand equipment produced by other suppliers
• imports or exports EEE on a professional basis into a Member State

With regard to the main aim of the directives - to reduce the environmental impact of WEEE - the underlying sentiment of the directives is 'the producer should pay'. Specifically, this refers to the funding of collection, transportation, sorting and recycling or re-use of WEEE, along with the associated public relations and consultancy costs. The directive states that producers may undertake these tasks individually or become part of collaborative schemes with proportionate responsibility.

Producer obligations
under the WEEE Directive, the producer has the following obligations;

• Marking of EEE - The draft guidance is confusing on this issue, as it states a different date than that required by the actual WEEE Directive, with regard to marking requirements. The draft guidance states that all EEE placed on the market after 1 April 2007 must be marked with specific information to assist with separate collection when it is discarded as waste (the crossed out wheelie bin symbol), a producer identification and that the product was placed on the market after 13 August 2005. However, according the actual Directive, this marking was required from 13 August 2005 anyway.
• Join a producer compliance scheme - Each producer must join a PCS. Through this membership the producers will finance the collection, treatment, recycling and environmentally sound disposal of separately collected WEEE. The PCS will, on the producer's behalf, register each of its members and will report information and declare compliance with obligations. It may also assist with clearance, treatment and reprocessing of WEEE, and trade evidence on their behalf. It is possible for producers to set up their own PCS, but due to the cost and adminstrative requirements of doing so, it is not likely to be a commonly chosen option.
• Information to assist treatment and recycling - Producers must make information available to treatment facilities and reprocessors on each new type of EEE they put onto the UK market within one year, to assist them with reprocessing and handling the WEEE.
• Provision of producer registration details - All producers must register with the relevant Environment Agency. This will generally be one of the duties performed by the PCS on the producer's behalf. The producer registration number must be provided to distributors when they sell EEE.
• Records of direct selling abroad - If a producer is based in the UK and selling direct to end users in other member states, records must be maintained of these sales including how the obligations in other member states have been complied with, for a period of six years.

Timescales

EU Directive timeline

13/02/2003 EU Directive publication

13/08/2004 Member States bring into force laws, regulations and administration for directive, producers to commence registration

13/08/2005 Producers liable for financing WEEE, processing systems set up

31/12/2006 Member States to meet recovery/recycling targets set in the directive

31/12/2008 Establish new targets for recovery/recycling

UK implementation timeline

early/12/06 Regulations laid

01/01/07 Regulations come into force

31/01/07 PCSs (including prospective individual registrants) to apply to the Agencies for approval

28/02/07 Agencies to approve schemes

01-15/03/07 Producers to register with PCSs

31/03/07 Schemes to submit data

01/04/07 - 30/06/07 DTI continue to pay Local Authorities for fridge, gas discharge lamp and TV disposal (but they will recover this money through WEEE Exchange at the end of the first period)

01/07/07 Full implementation of the scheme, including producers to provide registration number to sellers when supplying EEE

WEEE Directive in other Member States

It is important to note that the WEEE Directive not only stipulates a minimum requirement for Member States to achieve, but it also does not specify exactly how the aims are to be achieved. Thus, each Member State has its own regulations and schemes to implement the WEEE Directive, however it has decided is easiest and most appropriate.

The main impact this has on producers is that they have to register with the national body (or join relevant schemes, as appropriate) in each Member State they sell to i.e. just joining the scheme of the Member State the producer is based in is not sufficient.

As the WEEE setup in each Member State is different, it is not possible to detail everything on this web site. For assistance regarding WEEE obligations in Member States other than the UK, please contact us at Conformance to discuss your needs.

Useful links

The Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform website is the offical Government source of information regarding the WEEE Directive and includes the latest guidance notes, information, consultations and implementation proposals.

Envirowise are a Government-funded organisation who can offer advice and information regarding WEEE (and other environmental issues)

Europa's website provides the European Commission's information regarding the Directive. Contains all the offical publications - Directives, Decisions, Consultations, Studies etc.

DEFRA is responsible for ensuring the permitting of Authorised Treatment Facilities for the WEEE Directive.

The Environment Agency will be the enforcement agency for the WEEE Directive (although this duty will be performed by SEPA in Scotland and EHS in NI).

The National Physical Laboratory website also contains excellent FAQ sections regarding lead-free issues and the WEEE and RoHS directives: NPL - lead-free (links to WEEE and RoHS FAQs).

The Wheelie Bin logo

Further Advice

As with most Directives, the actual requirements for any particular product or producer are very specific. For further advice specific to your products and requirements, please contact us at Conformance and we will be pleased to discuss your needs.