The DIRECTIVE 2002/96/EC ON WASTE ELECTRIC AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT (WEEE seeks to reduce the amount and toxicity of electrical products going to landfill each year through recycling and recovery targets under 10 broad product categories covering a wide range of products. There are supplemented by 4 additional reporting categories for display equipment, appliances containing refrigerants, gas discharge lamps and LED light sources, and photovoltaic panels.
From 15 August 2018 the scope is widened to include all EEE, unless specifically exempted or excluded under Regulations 7 and 8. The categories of EEE will also change so that all EEE falls into one of the six categories listed in Schedule 3 of the Regulations
WEEE is the fastest growing waste stream in Europe, growing at around 8% per year. The onus is placed on the ‘producer’ to finance the end of life product recovery and recycling. This requires manufacturers, suppliers, retailers and designers to consider the implication of their product designs from the outset, to meet their legal obligation under the directives.
The original focus of the WEEE Directive was to reduce the one million tons of –household waste’ being disposed of each year, 90% of which goes to landfill or incineration. Article 9 of the Directive places a liability on producers of non–household – so called Business to Business (B2B) electronic waste.
Requirements
As a retailer or distributor you must provide a way for your customers to dispose of their old household electrical and electronic equipment when you sell them the same goods new.
The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations apply regardless of how you sell the products, whether direct or by internet, mail order or telephone.
You must do one of the following:
- provide a free, in-store, take back service to your customers;
- set up an alternative, free take back service; and
- join the Distributor Take back Scheme (DTS)
You’re a producer of EEE in the UK if you:
- manufacture and sell EEE under your own brand in the UK;
- resell under your own brand equipment made by other suppliers (if the producer’s brand appears on the equipment you are not classed as the producer);
- import or export EEE on a commercial basis into the UK; and/or
- are established outside of the UK and supply EEE directly to the UK market by distance selling (eg online, mail order, phone)
You must:
- mark your products with the crossed out wheeled bin symbol and a date mark •provide information on reuse and environmentally sound treatment of the products and components (includes materials, dangerous substances and preparations) within one year of putting them on the market;
- make sure that distributors you supply have your producer registration number;
- keep records for at least four years of the amount of EEE put on the market by category;
- You must register as a producer or join a producer compliance scheme (PCS). This depends on how much EEE you put on the UK market in the previous calendar year (also known as a compliance year); and
- You must give your PCS information about your business. You must provide the amount of EEE you placed on the UK market by category as requested by the scheme.
The PCS will charge fees for its services. This includes fees for collection and treatment costs of WEEE on your behalf.
Producers should aim to improve product design to facilitate recycling and reuse of components and materials.
If you place less than 5 tonnes of EEE on the UK market in a compliance year, and you placed less than 5 tonnes of EEE on the market in the previous year, you can register direct with your environmental regulator as a small producer