WEEE Legislation

WEEE Directive

On 27th January 2003 the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive was issued by the European Commission, to address the environmental impacts of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) once it reaches the end of its useful life.

The primary purpose of the WEEE Directive is to prevent waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and to set targets for the re-use, recycling and recovery of such waste so as to reduce disposal to landfill or incineration.

The Directive places a duty upon Member States, not upon Producers.

Download the WEEE Directive

Europe

WEEE legislation is NOT identical across the European Union.  In comparison with the RoHS Directive, which is transposed across all Member States in an identical fashion, the WEEE Directive is transposed differently into national law for each EU Member State.

We can advise companies operating in more than one Member State on how best to minimise their exposure to costs and individual regulatory requirements.

UK WEEE Regulations

The Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment (Producer Responsibility) Regulations 2006 were laid before parliament on 12th December 2006 and came into force on 2nd January 2007.

The Regulations implement the 'Extended Producer Responsibility' requirements under the WEEE Directive. This means that Producers of EEE are encouraged to consider the environment during the initial stages of design and manufacture as well as being required to take responsibility for the impact on the environment when their products become waste.

Obligated Producers are required to:

• Register with an Approved Compliance Scheme, such as B2B Compliance
• Label all EEE products from 1st April 2007
• Finance the recovery and recycling of WEEE from the 1st July 2007

Further Information and FAQs relating to the WEEE regulations and associated producer responsibilities can be found on our WEEE Info pages.

Download the Regulations and subsequent Amendments

External Guidance

Non-statutory guidance published by BIS (formerly BERR/DTI) provides guidance concerning important aspects of the UK WEEE Regulations, in particular the Scope of the Regulations.

Orgalime (the European Federation of Trade Associations - which acts as a focal lobbying point for those Associations in the European Parliament) has published "A Practical Guide to Understanding the Scope of the WEEE and ROHS Directives". The illustrated guide provides interpretations, criteria and decision trees, whilst focusing on the "grey areas" that stem from the WEEE and ROHS Directives.

Producers should be aware that there are often conflicting views on issues of scope and are strongly recommended to contact B2B Compliance for further advice.

Download the Government guidance notes last updated Nov 09Dowload a copy of the guide (registration required)

Latest Developments

WEEE Directive Recast

On 3rd December 2008 the European Commission published proposals for a recast WEEE Directive. The new Directive (when agreed) is likely to take effect from the beginning of 2012. The proposals and B2B Members Guidance can be found on the Members Only Area.

On 19th December 2008 BIS (then BERR) launched a formal consultation in response to the proposed new WEEE Directive. The consultation documents and B2B Compliances' response and guidance for Members can be found in the Members Only Area.

When transposing the new Directive into UK legislation a formal UK consultation exercise will take place on the proposed new Regulations and revised guidance.

Our Members are being kept fully informed throughout the progress of the proposed WEEE Directive.