Comprehensive Summary of the Regulations You should read this document for a comprehensive, but reasonably brief summary of the Regulations. For more detailed information you can download the Government Guidance notes from www.bis.gov.uk/weee, or if you have specific questions please contact us by e- mail info@weeelink.co.uk, or phone 01429 839284. Background Definition of EEE Types of EEE Producers Distributors Household or non household EEE? Obligations of all producers Specific obligations for B2B producers Specific obligations for B2C producers Background The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2006 implement EC Directives 2002/96/EC and 2003/108/EC and came into force at staged intervals in 2007. The Regulations aim to minimise the environmental impact of WEEE by setting requirements in terms of labelling, provision of information, separate collection, reuse, recycling, recovery and treatment. They affect all parties involved in the EEE / WEEE life cycle; producers; distributors and end-users. Companies operating in other Member States need to determine their other legal requirements and take appropriate steps to comply in each of these. Definition of EEE A product is classed as EEE if it meets each of the following criteria: Needs electrical and electromagnetic fields to work (primary power source) to fulfil its primary function Is less than 1000v AC or 1500v DC Fits within one of the ten (plus additional 3 categories of EEE) Is not covered by a specific exemption: o Intended for national security & military purposes o Large scale industrial tool o Household luminary o Filament light bulbs o Infected & medical products o Part of another type of equipment (e.g. car)
Categories of EEE Schedule 1 of the Regulations details the types of EEE covered by the Regulations, in ten categories, however, Regulation 13 requires that display equipment (e.g. monitors), cooling equipment containing refrigerants (e.g. fridges) and gas discharge lamps (e.g. fluorescent tubes) are recorded separately. These are recorded in additional categories, 11, 12 and 13 respectively. Some items may be considered both as components which are exempt, or as finished products, which maybe obligated. Since the guidelines from the Government are still evolving, specific advice on such should sought from us or the Agency to determine if these are within scope 1. Large Household Appliances 2. Small Household Appliances 3. IT and Telecommunications 4. Consumer Equipment 5. Lighting Equipment 6. Electric and Electronic Tools (excluding stationary industrial tools) 7. Toys, Leisure & Sports Equipment 8. Medical devices (excluding all implanted and infected products) 9. Monitoring & Control Equipment 10. Automatic Dispensers 11. Display Equipment 12. Cooling Appliances 13. Gas Discharge Lamps Producers A producer is the party placing electrical or electronic equipment on the UK Market, which includes: Manufacturing EEE under their own brand Re-branding EEE produced by other suppliers, where the EEE does not contain the original suppliers brand Importing EEE into UK on a commercial basis (an individual consumer / business that purchases an item of EEE abroad and brings it into UK for use on a personal basis is not a producer) Household or non-household EEE?
There are two types of producer; producers of EEE intended for use by householders ( B2C or household EEE ) and producers of EEE intended for use by businesses ( B2B or non-household EEE ). Some products may be used by householders and businesses, such as a laptop computer or mobile phone. Products that are identical for both users are initially defined as household EEE, unless there is evidence to prove that the EEE is for users other than households. Agency guidance requires that to support a claim that EEE which is the same or similar to household EEE is non-household EEE they must meet one of the following two conditions: 1 Have evidence, in the form of signed contract with the business user that clearly sets out who is responsible for the costs of collecting and treating the EEE at the end of its life, ensuring that the EEE will not be disposed of with normal household waste or 2 Have evidence that the EEE will not be used in households and disposed of with normal household waste supported by one or a combination of the following conditions. must be operated by specialised software (e.g. an operating system that needs to be set up in a special way for professional use). operated at a voltage, or use an amount of power, outside the normal range available in private households. must only be operated by someone who has a professional licence to do so, or used in a professional environment or by someone with a professional qualification must be a large size or weight, or need to be installed and taken apart or transported by specialists. must fall within category 10 must fall outside the General Product Safety Directive for consumer products. Statistics confirm that a particular type of EEE is not disposed with normal waste. Obligations of all producers All producers obligated under the Regulations (unless there is voluntary registration for specific brands by overseas producers must): Register with a compliance scheme: The legal deadline for registration is 15 th October each year. If you place products on the UK market after the registration deadline you need to register within 28 days. There are usually fees for joining compliance schemes, with the scheme also responsible for paying the Agency (Environment Agency or Scottish Environmental Protection Agency) fee on your behalf. Submit data relating to EEE placed on the market on a quarterly basis 1. 1 Changes to the Regulations coming into force 1 st January 2010 may reduce the frequency of B2B data to annually
This data should give the total weight of each of the thirteen categories of EEE you have placed on the market the previous quarter, separated into household and non-household EEE. Some schemes ask you to give them the totals only, others like Weee Link prefer to receive your raw data too so that we can doublecheck that products are in the correct categories. These records should be kept on file for at least 4 years. Producers are also require to keep records of any sales direct to end-users in other Member States and how they have complied with their Regulations in these States. Register brands for which you are responsible and label products with these (logos or PIMs; Producer Identification Marks). Every item of EEE placed on the UK market should have a logo that is unique to the producer. This may be your company logo, your product brand, or if you sell unbranded products you may register the WEE number you are allocated (see below) as your brand. Where more than one producer imports products with the same brand from an overseas supplier, unless that supplier registers voluntarily, then you need to add an additional logo / modify the original one so it is unique to you. For example you can add stickers to products when they arrive in UK. Each of the brands for which you are responsible should be registered with the compliance scheme. Label products with the crossed out wheelie bin symbol and date mark. All products placed on the market since 13 th August 2005 should be marked with the crossed out wheelie bin and black bar symbol. This marking needs to conform to British Standard (EN50419-2006). The black bar acts as a date mark, confirming the products have been placed on the market after 13 th August 2005, which is important for determining recycling and treatment responsibilities for nonhousehold EEE. Finance collection, treatment, re-use, recycling, recovery and environmentally sound disposal of WEEE at the end of its life. The financing requirements for B2B and B2C WEEE differ considerably and are covered in the relevant producer section. Inform distributors of your producer identification number WEE Number This requirement only applies to producers selling to distributors (the person providing EEE on a commercial basis to the person that is going to use it). This can be included in your terms and conditions, credit agreements, on your letterhead etc. Keep information relating to composition of EEE and location of any hazardous substances. Producers are required to keep information on new types of EEE that they have placed on the market since 1 st April 2007. This data, which should include the information on different materials and components and the location of hazardous substances should be available within one year of placing products on the market.
There is limited guidance on what constitutes new EEE, but may include a new type of EEE to that producer, or EEE with a new feature, rather than a modification to an existing product. This information should be made available to treatment plant operators on request to aid safe treatment and recycling of products at the end of their life. Specific Responsibilities for B2B (non-household EEE) Producers of non-household EEE are required to finance its treatment, recovery, recycling, reuse and environmentally safe disposal (often referred to as B2B take-back). As WEEE placed on the market before 13 th Regulations 2005 also needs to be considered, there are different rules for pre-regulation WEEE (historic WEEE). The responsibilities for EEE that was placed on the market prior to 13 th August 2005 are as follows: Where the user is purchasing an equivalent item of new EEE, the producer of the new EEE is responsible, irrespective of who the producer of the old EEE was Where the user is not purchasing an equivalent item of new EEE, they are responsible. For producers to meet their obligations they must do one of two things: (i) Provide take-back. This means that you receive WEEE back from the user and ensure it is treated in accordance with the WEEE Regulations (i.e. via an AATF or AE; Approved Authorised Treatment Facility or Approved Exporter). At the time of going to press, WEEE could also be sent to re-use organisations that are not AATFs or AE, but this is likely to change, so please check with us if you intend to do this. The WEEE must be treated at no cost to the user, with records of such kept for at least 4 years. You should report to your compliance scheme which AATFs / AEs you are using to treat your returned WEEE so that they can obtain evidence of treatment on your behalf and submit it in their quarterly returns to the Agency. You are likely to require a waste management permit exemption to receive WEEE back from your customers (you cannot store another parties waste without this). Forms are available from the Environment Agency website to register an exemption, which is a very simple process. (ii) Make alternative arrangements The Regulations allow alternative arrangements to be made between the parties to the agreement for the collection, treatment, recycling, re-use, recovery and environmentally safe disposal of the WEEE. The standard way to do this to make the user responsible via the sales contract system. Some compliance schemes require their members to use only one of the above mechanisms or may require that any treatment is undertaken by the scheme. Weee Link permits its member to use either system and has standard wording that B2B members wishing to make alternative arrangements can include in their T&Cs.
Whether B2B Take-Back or alternative arrangements are in place producers need to ensure that the communication pathways with customers are effective, usually through training of front-line personnel. Where your direct customer is not the user (example if you supply dealers), particular care is required to ensure that the final user knows who is responsible for treatment. Specific Responsibilities for B2C (household EEE) Producers of household EEE are not required to receive EEE back unless they are also a distributor (although they may chose to). Producers of household WEEE are required to finance their share of UK separately collected WEEE returned to AATFs / AEs (Authorised Approved Treatment Facilities or Approved Exporters). In the UK, users of household WEEE are provided with several options for separately collecting EEE, rather than placing it in the household waste stream. The most common methods are returning it to their local household waste recycling centre or, returning it to a retailer when they buy a similar product. Producers are required to finance the transport of this WEEE from such collection points to AATFs / AEs as well as its safe treatment, recovery, recycling, re-use and environmentally safe disposal. This is quite a complicated system, but in basic terms, the Agencies report the year after the compliance period ends, the quantity of household WEEE for which the UK is responsible. Each compliance scheme is given an obligation for this EEE, which it needs to allocate to its members based on their share per category. For example, if there are 1000 000t put on the UK market of category 2 and the UK collects 250 000t (25% collection), a producer placing 500 000t (on the market (50% UK total) would have financial responsibility for 50% of the collected material or 125 000t. Compliance schemes collect household WEEE from DCFs and distributors on behalf of their members and will make arrangements with other schemes for categories where they have a surplus or shortage. They receive evidence for the WEEE that they have delivered to AATFs / AEs. Producers receiving WEEE back (optional) must deliver it to an AATF / AE. They should usually ask the AATF / AE to upload the evidence to their compliance scheme s account so that the compliance scheme can discount this from the evidence they need from their own collections for the member (this may not necessarily be the case for all schemes). The compliance scheme needs to invoice its members for the costs of collection and treatment. Usually the scheme will estimate these costs during the compliance year, based on what it predicts the UK collection rates to be, with an adjustment invoice once final information is provided by the Agencies. Distributors Distributors are the party providing EEE to the person that is going to use it. They are responsible for offering the household consumer facilities for returning WEEE, specifically when they buy a new item. This includes distance sellers (internet sales). Companies can be both distributor and producers. A distributor can offer the consumer two options:
(i) Join the Distributor Take-Back Scheme (DTS) and point the customer to their nearest household waste recycling site. This scheme was set up in 2007 and originally intended to run till 31 st December 2009, although it has now been extended to a second phase until 31 st December 2012 (distributors wishing to remain in the DTS need to re-register for the second phase). To join the DTS, istributors of EEE pay a fixed fee (based on EEE turnover for most companies, but for larger distributors, on the number of appliances of each EEE category sold). The money collected is provided to local authorities to help increase WEEE segregation at Household Waste Recycling Sites (HWRCs) for example by improving signage. Distributors joining the DTS should communicate to their customers that they are members of the DTS, ideally advising where their nearest HWRC is located. They also need to provide customers with the additional information detailed in the following sections. Joining the DTS is the least hassle option, but does not give distributors which are also producers the opportunity to receive EEE back that could be used to offset their own obligation, has little PR benefit and not always the cheapest compliance route. (ii) Offer like for like take-back Distributors that do not join the DTS must offer like for like take-back. This means that they must accept back a similar product when a new one is purchased. A distributor selling a mobile phone should take back a camera phone, but they would not be expected to take-back a camera or a hair dryer. Distributors with stores can offer instore take back, however, distance sellers will have to offer an alternative means of take-back, which is available and accessible to the customer. Collection on delivery is permitted and you can charge for collection, but must be very clear that there is no charge for treatment and recycling. Collection on delivery should not be the only means of take-back provided if you make a collection charge. When distributors have received WEEE back, they can return it to the system set up by a compliance scheme free of charge (i.e. deliver it to an AATF / AE and the compliance scheme will fund treatment). In practice, if the distributor is also a producer, the compliance scheme may ask the producer to pay the AATF / AE, but will deduct it from the evidence that they need to buy on behalf of the producer. Distributors can contact any compliance scheme when they have received WEEE back. If they are also a producer, it will tend to be their scheme, otherwise they may contact a local scheme, or the scheme collecting from HWRCs in their area. Distributors offering take-back need to have waste permit exemptions in place before accepting back another parties waste. These are obtained by completing a simple form, obtained from the Environment Agency or Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (as appropriate) website. Records of all WEEE received back must be kept on file for at least four years.
Whether distributors are providing take-back, or members of the DTS, they are required to provide information to consumers regarding the take-back systems available to them. This includes: The environmental impacts of hazardous substances in EEE The benefits of separate collection and environmentally sound disposal The meaning of the crossed out wheelie bin How they can contribute towards re-use, recycling and recovery of WEEE. The arrangements available for free of charge return for customers (DTS or take-back) This information can be provided in stores, on your website, catalogue or in your order confirmation (distance sellers). If you sell products in a variety of ways, you must ensure that the information is readily available for all types of purchaser. The VCA (Vehicle Certification Authority) are the regulatory body for distributor obligations.