December 2006
WEEE Is Finally Coming
Producers of electrical goods will be required to meet the environmental costs of dealing with waste products under the WEEE directive which will come into force in July 2007.
The Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive aims to address the environmental impact of electronic and electrical equipment and to promote its separate collection when it becomes waste. WEEE is a priority waste stream for the EU because of its growing volume in the municipal waste stream and its potential hazardousness following disposal.
The Directive introduces producer responsibility for WEEE, whereby producers will have to finance the treatment and recycling/recovery of separately collected WEEE in the UK to specified treatment standards and recycling/recovery targets. Retailers also have an obligation to offer take-back services to householders. It is important to note that the Directive does not place any obligations on householders, and they will not be prohibited from throwing WEEE away with general domestic rubbish. It will however encourage more WEEE to be reused or recycled by ensuring that there is a network of facilities in place where householders can return their used equipment free of charge.
When presenting the WEEE Regulations before Parliament, Science Minister Malcolm Wicks said:
"Electrical waste such as toasters, fridges and washing machines are a growing environmental problem here in the UK with over 2m tonnes being dumped in landfill last year alone. There is currently no incentive for those that produce them to care about the life cycle of their products. These regulations will mean they can no longer shirk this responsibility."
By 15 March 2007 producers will need to join an approved producer compliance scheme to ensure that they are able to comply with the Directive. The regulations will:
- Enable consumers to dispose of their electrical waste free of charge in accessible and appropriate places. Consumers will start to see changes from July 2007, with new signage at their local council refuse centres, in shops, and on new electrical products.
- Give distributors the choice of how to meet their obligations under the Directive by either joining the Distributor Take-back Scheme (DTS) or by offering customers in-store take-back.
- Allow existing relationships currently managing electrical waste to continue. This is consistent with the Government's overall approach to regulation, which is to be as 'light-touch' as possible.
- Enable any operator of a designated collection facility (DCF) to arrange with a producer compliance scheme (PCS) to have the electrical waste deposited at their site taken away for treatment and recycling by that PCS, free of charge.
- Where possible, allow for and encourage the re-use of equipment after it has been discarded.
- Allow for the continued collection of old equipment at the same time as delivering new goods by retailers, and some producers.
The Government claims that they have announced these regulations in plenty of time to ensure that manufacturers are able to put appropriate systems in place. If the introduction of previous regulations provides any guide then many smaller companies will leave this until late in the process and miss the initial deadlines. If you are involved in the manufacture of electronic and electrical equipment do you know if the regulations apply to you, and if they do, will you be ready?
For more information on the implications of the WEEE Directive, please contact Steve Stones on 01788 538 180.
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