Legislation

 

Legislation

The UK WEEE Regulations implements the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive in the UK. They were published on 12 December 2006 and came into force on 2 January 2007. The regulations require all producers in the UK to:

  • join an approved Producer Compliance Scheme within 28 days of putting Electrical and Electronic Equipment on the market in the UK
  • provide arrangements for collection, treatment and recycling of WEEE
  • provide their WEEE registration number to distributors (e.g. print it on all invoices)

The Environment Agency has published a fact sheet in English and Welsh to explain these obligations.

It is an offence under the regulations to put Electrical and Electronic Equipment onto the UK market without being a member of an approved Producer Compliance Scheme.

Are you a producer?

You are a producer for the purposes of the WEEE Regulations in the UK if any of the following apply to you:

  • manufacture and sell electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) under your own brand in the UK
  • resell EEE manufactured by another person under your own brand in the UK
  • import EEE into the UK on a professional basis (e.g. as a distributor or reseller)

In other words, you are a producer if you are the first to put the equipment onto the UK market - i.e. if you are the first to make it available for distribution or use.

Producer obligations

A producer placing EEE on the UK market must join an approved Producer Compliance Scheme within 28 days of doing so. The PCS must be approved by the Environment Agency, SEPA, or the Department of Environment in Northern Ireland.

A producer, or a PCS acting on its behalf, is obligated to provide arrangements to finance the collection, treatment, and recycling of WEEE arising from sales of its products.

The PCS must report quarterly to the Environment Agency, the weight of equipment that each producer placed on the market in each WEEE category, the amount of the WEEE that has been collected and recycled and the number of units made available for reuse.

Joining B2BWEEE-Scheme allows producers to easily meet their WEEE obligations.

For further information, please contact Aidan Turnbull
Head of WEEE, RoHS & EcoDesign on +44 (0)1225 748420