Latest thinking
13 DECEMBER 2006
After several delays and uncertainty, the WEEE regulations were laid before parliament yesterday (12 December 2006) and will come into force, after the statutory three week period, on 2 January 2007.
Essential downloads
UK WEEE Regulations (SI 2006 No. 3289) (PDF 406Kb)
The DTI’s final regulatory impact assessment implementing the WEEE Directive will be available shortly.
AUTUMN 2006
“The story so far has been about delay and difficulty, but now we have a very good, useful policy that fits in well with other areas including our recent energy review and sustainable development.”
Malcolm Wicks, Energy Minister
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has launched its final consultation on the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive. This announcement sees the beginning of the final phase of implementing the WEEE directive. The consultation will run from now until 17 October 2006 and the regulations are due to be put into UK law by January 2007.
Consultation documents
WEEE consultation: Part I (PDF 165KB)
WEEE consultation: Part II (PDF 415KB)
WEEE consultation: Part III (PDF 211KB)
Draft WEEE regulations (PDF 211KB)
Consultation overview
The consultation assumes most household WEEE will be collected via local authority-owned designated collection points, with site upgrades funded by retailers. It also pursues the system of take-back laid out previously through the DTI’s informal consultations.
One significant feature of the consultation is that moving forward producers will have to register via an approved compliance scheme and will not be able to register directly. Producers will be required to join compliance schemes, which will determine between themselves how much WEEE they collect and where. A central exchange will be on hand at the end of the year to reimburse those schemes that collect more equipment than their members require and charge those schemes that do not collect enough WEEE.
Overview of UK’s WEEE producer responsibility system
- Producers to join compliance schemes
- Producers to register WEEE obligations with Environment Agencies
- Compliance schemes to arrange collection and recycling of WEEE from designated collection points
- Retailers to pay for upgrade of designated collection points to take five categories of WEEE
- Electrical retailers to provide free take-back for old equipment from July 2007
- Final users of non-household historic WEEE not being replaced to finance collection and recycling
- Authorised treatment facilities to process WEEE and provide evidence notes to compliance schemes
- Recycling targets to be met for ten categories of WEEE
- Accredited reprocessors/exporters to recycle WEEE materials, providing evidence notes to compliance schemes
- Reprocessors/exporters must be accredited to issue WEEE evidence notes
- Accreditation fees to cover regulatory monitoring
- Compliance schemes that collect more than their share of WEEE to sell surplus evidence to central exchange at cost
- Compliance schemes that do not collect enough WEEE to buy extra evidence from central exchange above cost
- Central exchange to reimburse local authorities where producers do not clear WEEE from sites
- Contaminated WEEE can be refused collection/treatment
Key WEEE dates
- 17 October 2006: End of DTI consultation
- December 2006: WEEE Regulations laid
- 31 January 2007: Deadline for compliance schemes to apply for approval
- 28 February 2007: Deadline for schemes to be approved
- 31 March 2007: Deadline for producers/schemes to register
- July 2007: Full producer responsibility for WEEE begins
What next?
Let Comply Direct guide you through the WEEE process. We offer a simple, low cost and hassle-free online approach which will enable you to take your first steps towards compliance.
- Find out more about early bird membership
- Start recycling your WEEE now
- Make sure you’re prepared with our bespoke consultancy packages
- Sign up for our free regular WEEE e-bulletin
