This guide is broken into four sections:
Background
The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive 2003 aims to minimise the impact of electrical and electronic goods on the environment, by increasing re-use and recycling and reducing the amount of WEEE going to landfill.
WEEE is a ‘producer responsibility’ Directive, which means it makes producers of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) financially responsible for the recovery and recycling of the equipment at the end of life. The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations for England and Wales came into force on 2 January 2007.
Are you affected?
The Regulations apply to all businesses, regardless of their size, that produce, sell, store, treat or dismantle WEEE. For the purpose of the WEEE Regulations a “producer” is defined as:
- a manufacturer of EEE, selling under your own brand in the UK; or
- a business based in the UK selling under its own brand EEE manufactured by another company ('re-brand'); or
- a professional importer introducing EEE to the UK market; or
- a business based in the UK that places EEE in other European Member States by means of distant selling.
Businesses selling electrical items to end user are defined as 'distributors' of EEE. This includes wholesalers, retailers, distant seller (e.g. internet retailers), and producers who sell products directly to consumers.
In some instances, you may pick up both obligations, that of producer and distributor. For example, if you re-brand EEE manufactured by another company and then make it available for sale.
The legislation applies to household and non-household products with a voltage of up to 1000 volts AC or up to 1500 volts DC in the following ten categories:
· Large household appliances
· Small household appliances
· IT and telecommunications equipment
· Consumer equipment
· Lighting equipment
· Electrical and electronic tools
· Toys, leisure and sports equipment
· Medical devices
· Monitoring and control equipment
· Automatic dispensers.
Schedule 2 of the WEEE Regulations provides an indicative list of products falling within these categories. Exemptions from the Regulations include consumables, fixed installations, EEE for military and national security and EEE that is part of another system ouside of the scope of the Regulations.
DTI have published Guidance that aims to help companies decide whether or not their equipment falls into the obligation or not.
Next page