WEEE Directive FAQ
What is WEEE?
WEEE stands for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment, this includes battery powered items. In order to qualify as WEEE the item will be dependent on electromagnetic fields or electric currents to function and will operate within a voltage range of up to 1,000 volts AC or 1,500 volts DC. WEEE has been broken down into ten product categories:
- Large household appliances
- Small household appliances
- IT & telecommunications equipment
- Consumer equipment
- Lighting equipment
- Electrical & electronic tools
- Toys, leisure and sports equipment
- Medical devices
- Monitoring & control equipment
- Automatic dispensers
Some items are exempt such as large scale fixed industrial machinery, military equipment and items which form a small part of a vehicle.
Who is affected?
From a private sector perspective there are three main groups which are affected; these are producers, distributors and businesses that purchase EEE. These groups and their responsibilities are explained in more detail below:
Producers
You will be classed as a producer if you or a third party manufactures EEE for sale in the UK under your own brand name, or if you import EEE for sale in the UK regardless of brand name
Distributors
You will be classed as a distributor if you sell EEE to an end user either online, in-store or via wholesalers, or if you are a producer who sells EEE direct to consumers
Businesses that purchase EEE
If you are a company which purchases EEE for business purposes you will need to finance its eventual environmentally sound disposal or have it collected by a producer or a producer compliance scheme.
How will the implementation of the WEEE Directive work in practice?
Producers will need to ensure that all the products they sell are marked with a "crossed out wheelie bin" symbol, producer name and creation date. They will also be required to provide details regarding the safe disassembly and material types of their products to aid recycling. Producers will be required to join a Producer Compliance Scheme and pay a charge dependent on the weight of EEE sold by the producer in the previous year. Alternatively the producer can arrange for and fund environmentally sound disposal of WEEE equivalent to the weight sold in the previous year and provide this data to the Producer Compliance Scheme.
Distributors have a vital role in educating customers about the need to recycle WEEE as well as dealing with customers’ WEEE on a like for like basis when new EEE is purchased. Distributors can opt to accept WEEE in store or alternatively advise their customers of a nearby Designated Collection Facility where the customer can dispose of the item free of charge. If a distributor does not wish to collect WEEE from customers in store, it will need to pay the Distributor Take Back Scheme to do this instead. The Distributor Take Back Scheme will accumulate funds from distributors and place this in a central pot which will then be allocated to Designated Collection Facilities (likely to be civic amenity sites) so that they can upgrade their sites to accommodate the different categories of WEEE.
Businesses and other non-household users of WEEE must arrange and fund environmentally sound disposal for WEEE that was purchased prior to the 13 August 2005. However if a business is disposing of WEEE purchased before 13 August 2005 as they are replacing it with new like for like EEE, it will be the responsibility of the relevant Producer Compliance Scheme to pay for the disposal. Equally, businesses disposing of WEEE purchased after 13 August 2005 will not need to pay as this will be the responsibility of the relevant Producer Compliance Scheme.
Why has this regulation been created?
The regulation is very similar to the Packaging Regulations 2005 in that it seeks to enforce the “polluter pays” theory of environmental protection. Currently the WEEE reprocessing and collection facilities in the UK need a great deal of investment to become sufficiently capable. This is why businesses that manufacture and sell EEE are targeted by this legislation and forced to pay for disposal and treatment of WEEE thus injecting funding into the reprocessing sector. It is hoped that this legislation will also motivate EEE manufacturers to make their products last longer and be simpler to disassemble and recycle.
Where does this regulation apply?
This regulation applies to the whole of the UK and many member states in the European Union have also adopted similar legislation to combat the year on year rise in WEEE. If you are a producer or distributor who has operations in other EU countries you may need to register in those states.