WEEE Directive: Recast Update

The recast of the WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Directive has not been as straightforward as that of RoHS. Although political agreement was reached in Council in March 2011, no first reading deal was reached with the European Parliament. The recast directive now has to go to second reading.

Key issues still to resolve are: (Click to expand each heading)

> Scope The Council has proposed the Directive should apply to the original ten Categories for 6 years on a ‘closed’ scope basis then be streamlined to five Categories on an ‘open’ basis The open basis arises because the products listed in the annexes are “examples” of products that are in the categories not prescriptive. However this would be subject to review by the Commission within 3 years and in addition there would be a list of additional exclusions to ‘open’ scope. The WEEE recast does not include the explanatory definition of “dependent” in the definition of EEE as in the RoHS recast and this could cause some confusion and conflicting views on whether products are covered by one or other or both recast directives Exclusions that will apply from entry into force are: Military equipment (intended for use exclusively for military purposes) Equipment designed and installed as part of another type of equipment not within scope Filament Bulbs After 6 years and the move to open scope the following products will be specifically excluded: Equipment designed to be sent into space Large-scale stationary industrial tools Large-scale fixed installations The means of transport Non-road mobile machinery for professional use R&D equipment only available on B to B basis Infected Medical devices and In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices, and implantable devices Interestingly, photovoltaic panels are specifically included in the scope of WEEE but are excluded from RoHS and Smart Cards will come under the open scope. The EU Parliament has argued for an open scope from entry into force but it remains to be seen what the final agreement will be. (Click 'hide' to collapse each section) Hide > New Member State Collection Target This is currently 4kg per head of population and in fact 7.9Kg/ph is recovered in the UK but it is proposed that this will change to annually 45% by weight of products placed on the market averaged over the previous three years. This will apply from four years after the Directive comes into force and will be subject to a review no later than 3 years after the directive comes into force where setting separate rates for specific categories may be considered, especially for temperature exchange equipment and for mercury containing lamps. After a further 4 years this will rise to 65% but again subject to a review no later than seven years after coming into force. There are derogations from these targets for The Czech Republic, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Latvia and Lithuania because of their deficit of necessary infrastructure and low level of EEE consumption. The Commission believe these targets are attainable based on research into collection rates since the current directive came into force. The EU Parliament wants higher collection rates applied sooner. Hide > Higher recovery, reuse & recycling targets Current recovery, reuse and recycling targets are to remain for three years but then all recovery targets are to be increased by 5% to account for re-use of whole appliances which are currently not counted towards achieving the targets. This means that at least 5% by weight of all WEEE collected annually in a category must go for reuse as whole appliances. This may be difficult to attain due to the high proportion of unwanted EEE that is resold as second hand equipment and does not go into the waste stream to be tracked and measured. The EU Parliament wants a separate and specific target for reuse. There will be a target set for Medical Devices for the first time of 75% recovery; 55% recycling and reuse, immediately on coming into force Hide > Producer responsibility and registration Issues It is proposed to extend producer responsibility to cover collection from households whereas at present they are only responsible for funding activities from the point where WEEE leaves the designated collection facilities. This would be a financial responsibility rather than something carried out by the producer although some large manufacturers are considering doing this as a way of controlling their WEEE. This is proposed as a Member State option and the UK have indicated that would not try to implement this. Producers are defined on a member state basis so that if you manufacturer or import EEE into a member state you must register as a producer in that state. This is unchanged from the current directive and although it was hoped that registration could be done just once to cover the whole EU this was not agreed by Council although still favoured by the EU Parliament. It is still possible that the registration system will be harmonised so that there are not 27 separate and different registration procedures but a single pan EU registration system and a single producer compliance scheme across the EU is being opposed by the UK due to cost and practical difficulties. Hide > Illegal shipments of WEEE to developing countries There have been numerous incidences of WEEE finding its way to Africa or Asia where it is dismantled in unsafe, unhealthy and environmentally damaging conditions. This equipment is being shipped as used EEE for reuse rather than WEEE so the recast has requirements for any person exporting used EEE, which is quite legal, to have evidence in the form of invoices, functional test reports and declarations that the equipment is used EEE destined for reuse and also provide appropriate protection against damage during transportation, loading and unloading. In the absence of such evidence or proper packing, Member State authorities will assume the shipment is WEEE. These requirements are in line with relevant Correspondents' Guidelines supporting the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 on shipments of waste. It is not illegal to export WEEE per se but it must be done within the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 where it can only be shipped to certain countries. The future timetable for the recast WEEE is as follows: Second reading late Summer/Autumn 2001 Final agreement – December 2011? New requirements coming into force January 2014 or possibly later If the Council and Parliament fail to get agreement on the second reading then the proposals will go to conciliation which will could add a further 3 months. If agreement is still not possible then the legislation falls. Hide Summary In summary the main issue is that of the open scope where some manufacturers may find themselves having to comply other than that in the UK the rules will remain largely unchanged for manufacturers but compliance schemes will have new collective collection and recovery targets to consider.