The Weee Directive Now in Force in the UK

AN UPDATE ON EU LEGISLATION FROM MARGOT PARKER,
DIRECTOR, EUROPEAN PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS ASSOCIATION (EPPA)

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) has finally come into force in the UK. The WEEE Directive was developed by the EU as a way of making sure that producers of electrical and electronic equipment pay for the management of their products when they come to the end of their useful lives.

As with most Directives which come from Brussels, the harsh realities of putting proposed legislation into place are far from simple, and in the UK we have been slower to get our act together. The Germans, Dutch and the Irish have already introduced the new legislation some time ago. After several delays and public consultations, the new WEEE Regulations finally came into force in the UK in January 2007. But businesses must be aware, especially those obligated as 'producers' under the new regulations, that they will need to register with an Approved Producer Compliance Scheme by the 15th of March 2007 and be able to manage their discarded products by the July 2007 date.

Who needs to do what? The Directive says that it is the "producer" of the product that is responsible for paying for the collection and recycling of items covered by the Directive. The definition of a producer is any business that places the electrical product on the UK market. If the product is made in the UK, then it will be the brand owner who is responsible. If it is imported, then the importer of record, regardless of the brand of the product, will be obligated.

The products that fall into the scope for WEEE are generally any products that require electricity to perform its function. IT equipment, consumer goods, toys, sports equipment and tools will fall into the remit of WEEE. There are a number of exceptions such as military requirements and some medical items along with certain plant machinery, which are not in the scope of the WEEE Directive.

It is important for businesses to make sure that the compliance scheme operator is strong enough to help them through the important issues with their environmental obligations. If you are obligated under the WEEE regulations then setting up the system may not be that simple, for example, calculating and reporting the amount of EEE you place on the market. One might think it's easy reporting sales by both units and weight but figures have to be reported separately for sales to consumers and sales to businesses. Collection systems for consumer products will mainly be returned through Local Authority collection sites and a producer's collection responsibility via their scheme calculated as a percentage of what has been discarded on their sales in that year by EEE category.

The WEEE Directive is finally with us. It is a burden, cost wise, for businesses to bear but it can also be a way of separating you from your competitor by showing that your business is managing its environmental responsibilities in a competent way.

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