WEEE

1
WEEE
The Commercial Service at the US Mission to the EU

• Rosemary Gallant
• Commercial Officer
• U.S. Mission to the EU
• Brussels, July 2005

2
Introduction

• European Commission WEEE RoHS
• 10 WEEE Categories
• Implementation Schedule
• Examples of Implementation
• Requirements for B2B
• Resources

3
WEEE Directive 2002/96/EC

• The aim of the Waste Electrical and Electronic
  Equipment Directive is to limit the amount of
  WEEE in landfills.
• As of August 13 2005 Producers need to finance
  the collection and recycling of WEEE.
• This Directive applies to companies in all stages
  of the creation and recycling of WEEE.
• Because it is an environmental directive there
  will be differences in implementation across the
  member states.

4
RoHS Directive 2002/95/EC

• The Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive
  limits the amount of mercury, cadmium, lead,
  chromium VI, PBB and PBDE in products from July
  2006.
• The RoHS Directive is an attempt to reduce the
  environmental impact of WEEE.
• Because it is a Single Market Directive it must
  be applied equally in all Member States

5
WEEE Product Categories in Annex 1B

• Large household appliances
• Small household appliances
• IT and telecommunications equipment
• Consumer equipment
• Lighting equipment
• Electrical and electronic tools
• Toys, leisure and sports equipment
• Medical devices
• Monitoring and control equipment
• Automatic dispensers

6
Exemptions Delays

• Category 8
• No current WEEE recycling targets
• Exempt from RoHS until 2008 at the earliest
• Category 9
• WEEE targets 50 recycling and 70 recovery
• Exempt from RoHS until 2008 at the earliest

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Implementation Schedule
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Delayed Implementation the UK

• The WEEE Directive's implementation deadline of
  August 13, 2005 will not be met by the UK. WEEE
  is due to be transposed in "summer 2005", with
  producer responsibility and take-back obligations
  being introduced in January 2006. The UK
  government does, however, intend to implement
  WEEE obligations on the marking of equipment from
  August 13, 2005.

10
Implementation Complete Spain

• The WEEE Directive's implementation deadline of
  August 13, 2005 will be met by Spain.
• The Spanish Registration Authority has yet to
  finalize their registration system but, it is
  expected before the August implementation.
• In Spain collective schemes must be approved by
  National and Regional Authorities

11
Implementation Delayed, Fines Ready

• Though many member states have delayed
  implementation of WEEE legislation they are
  preparing for implementation.
• For example, Poland is preparing to levy fines up
  to the value of the product if it is found to be
  non-compliant

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The Producer is

• Any person who
• (i) manufactures and sells electrical and
  electronic equipment under his own brand,
• (ii) resells under his own brand equipment
  produced by other suppliers, a reseller not being
  regarded as the "producer" if the brand of the
  producer appears on the equipment, as provided
  for in subpoint (i), or
• (iii) imports or exports electrical and
  electronic equipment on a professional basis into
  a Member State.

13
Importers Register

• The aforementioned definition of producer creates
  some confusion for US companies. Whomever puts
  the product on the EU market for the first time
  is considered the producer. In practice, this
  is generally the importer. This importer must be
  an EU legal entity.
• In fact, most countries require that registration
  be completed by a legal entity in that country.
  

14
B2C

• B2Consumer WEEE must be collected and recycled.
• This recycling is sometimes financed by a fee
  imposed on new appliance purchases.
• The producer is required to take back the old
  WEEE. Most comply with this obligation through a
  take-back scheme (i.e. in Belgium, Recupel)

15
New B2B

• After August 13, 2005 producers who sell new
  equipment to a business must arrange the
  collection of this WEEE.
• Producers may charge a fee for this service.
• If the business chooses not to return their
  unwanted WEEE to the producer they are held
  responsible for transporting historic WEEE to an
  approved recycler, meeting recycling targets and
  reporting data to Member State WEEE Agencies.

16
B2B

• For new B2B, many EU states include the provision
  from the Directive that alternative financing
  arrangements can be made between the producer and
  the user.
• In many countries producers who do not join
  collectives must provide financial guarantees
  such as blocked bank accounts to finance
  collections and recycling.

17
Historic B2B

• After August 13, 2005 producers who sell new
  equipment to businesses in order to replace old
  equipment arrange for the take-back of the
  historic WEEE.
• Producers may charge a fee for this service.

18
Product Marking

• Finished products put on the market after
  August 2005 for the first time in any Member
  State must marked with
• Producer identification (brand name, trade mark
  etc)
• Instructions for recycle and disassembly (if
  necessary).
• Crossed-out wheelie bin
• Finally, identify specific items which must be
  removed (see Annex II)

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Crossed out wheelie bin

• This mark was published as a European standard
  (EN 50419) by CENELEC in January 2005. While it
  has not been approved by the European Commission,
  it is the best marking option.

20
Arrange Take-back

• Producers may fulfill the take-back obligation
  and provide the recycling or the producer may
  join a collective scheme.
• There are Member State as well as EU wide take
  back schemes.
• Take-back schemes make it easier for producers to
  collect and recycle their WEEE and report their
  data to the WEEE authority.
• US Companies should ensure that either they or
  their importer have arranged for take-back.

21
Member State Take-back

• Each Member State is or has established a
  registering authority.
• The Registering Authority will authorize
  take-back schemes.

22
EU Wide Compliance Schemes

• Producers may choose to join a pan-European WEEE
  compliance scheme.
• No one has complete coverage yet but they are
  building up quickly. This appears to be a way to
  reduce costs and ensure continued use of new
  technologies.

23
EU Wide Resources

• The following organizations may be helpful in
  fulfilling your compliance requirements
• RENE, Recycling Network Europe A network of SMB
  sized companies with experience in electronic
  recycling.
• EARN, European Advanced Recycling Network A
  collection of recyclers specializing in solutions
  and funding RD.
• ERP, European Recycling Platform Set up by large
  corporations to enable efficient recycling.
• WEEE Forum representatives of voluntary
  collective take-back systems.

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Links

• US Mission to the EU http//www.buyusa.gov/europe
  anunion/weee.html
• RENE http//www.rene-europe.com/
• EARN http//www.earn-electronics.com/
• ERP http//www.erp-recycling.org/
• Dept. of Trade and Industry http//www.dti.gov.u
  k/sustainability/weee/

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Marking
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PRODUCT MARKING AND THE CENELEC STANDARD AN
UPDATE Article 10.3 of the WEEE Directive
requires member states to ensure that producers
appropriately mark electrical and electronic
equipment put on the market after 13 August 2005
with the symbol shown in Annex IV (the
crossed-out wheeled bin). In exceptional cases,
where this is necessary because of the size or
the function of the product, the symbol shall be
printed on the packaging, on the instructions for
use and on the warranty of the electrical and
electronic equipment. Annex IV says that the
symbol must be printed visibly, legibly and
indelibly. The Commission mandated CENELEC, the
European Committee for Electrotechnical
Standardization, to prepare a European standard
for the marking requirements of the WEEE
Directive. The standard applies to both
household and non-household WEEE. The standard
EN 50419, Marking of electrical and electronic
equipment in accordance with Article 11(2)
Directive 2002/96/EC (WEEE was ratified on 7
December 2004. 1 August 2005 is the deadline by
when all members of CENELEC must publish it as a
national standard and withdraw any existing
national standards which conflict with it. The
standard says that to identify the producer and
the equipment put on the market after 13 August
2005, the following shall be applied to the
product a unique identification of the
producer (a brand name, trademark, company
registration number or any other suitable means
of identification) the date of manufacture or
date put on the market, either in uncoded text or
in coded text for which the code is made
available to treatment facilities, and/or an
additional mark used in conjunction with the
crossed-out wheeled bin symbol. This additional
mark is a solid bar, containing no text or other
information, which appears below the bin symbol
and whose dimensions are specified in the
standard. If size or other characteristics such
as functionality of the product means that the
marking cannot be applied on the product it shall
appear on a flag on the fixed supply cord or in
the operating instructions and warranty
certificates included with the product.
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The Commission objected to the standard. It said
that the standard is not consistent with the
Directive because the exemption has been defined
too broadly o The Directive says that the
symbol need not appear on the equipment itself if
marking elsewhere is necessary because of the
size or function of the product, the
standard allows the exemption if size or
other characteristics such as functionality of
the product mean that it cannot be applied to
it. The Directive limits the exemption to the
wheeled bin symbol, whereas the standard applies
it to the date as well. Also, the Commission
objected to the provision in the standard that
the marking must be accessible. This has been
changed to visible, which must be
defined. CENELEC has now drafted an amendment to
the standard. The amendment will be cleared with
the Commission before being launched for voting.
It will be decided in September whether the
amendment can be submitted for a fast-track
(two-month) vote. If this is agreed, the vote
will be launched immediately and the amended
standard can be ratified in December. Denise
Perchard