WEEE regulations Update LOUISA HATTON Technical Advisor (Producer Responsibility)

Current Producer Responsibility regimes in the UK  Packaging Waste (since 1997)  The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007  End-of-life Vehicles (since 2006)  The End of Life (Producer Responsibility) Regulations 2005  Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (since July 2007)  The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2006

Why a WEEE Directive? From the Directive: “The amount of WEEE generated in the Community is growing rapidly. The content of hazardous components in electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) is a major concern during the waste management phase and recycling of WEEE is not undertaken to a sufficient extent.”

UK Implementation  the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations UK SI.2006 No cover product marking, take-back and recycling obligations, etc for the UK  the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (Waste Management Licensing) (England and Wales) Regulations 2006 SI No cover treatment and site licensing in England and Wales - separate provisions for Scotland and Northern Ireland

Amendment Regulations  The WEEE (Amendment) Regulations 2007 (SI 3454) have come into force;  these correct a few typographical errors in the 2006 Regulations, clarify some issues and change some deadlines for compliance period 2 (e.g. for issuing evidence)

Who’s affected?  ‘Producers’ of electrical or electronic equipment (EEE);  distributors of household EEE;  WEEE storage and refurbishment sites can register new exemptions from Waste Management Licensing;  treatment sites have new treatment standards to meet;  local authorities can put forward their sites as ‘Designated Collection facilities’ (DCFs);  business end-users will have obligations to finance the treatment and recycling of their WEEE in some circumstances

Packaging v WEEE  producers can register with us or a Producer Compliance Scheme  50t or £2m turnover de minimis  group registration  recovery obligations  funding shared across the packaging supply chain from manufacturers of packaging materials through to sellers of packaged goods  no distinction between household and business packaging  producers can only register with a Producer Compliance Scheme  no de minimis for producers  no group registration  treatment and recovery obligations  funded by manufacturers, importers and re-branders  separate funding for household and non-household equipment

Stats  ~ 4,850 producers registered  ~1.5mt of household EEE and 0.5mt of new equipment declared  40 Producer Compliance Schemes  ~170,000t of WEEE separately collected in first 6 months  ~106,000 hits on our WEEE home page last year

Issues  Trading between compliance schemes  Evidence of recovery and recycling  Scope  Freeriders  Waste management licences and WEEE modifications  Data reporting

What are we trying to achieve?  diversion of waste from landfill;  removal of hazardous components / substances;  improved standards of operation at treatment sites;  higher levels of recycling  no increase in fly-tipping or illegal export of WEEE

Thank You