Beverley Flynn explains the WEEE Directive and its impact on business
The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/3289) (the regulations) which implement Directive 2002/96/EC (the Directive) were laid before Parliament on 12 December 2006. The UK should have implemented the Directive back in 2005 but this was delayed, largely due to numerous rounds of consultation. The regulations come into effect over a period of time with final implementation on 1 July 2007. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is expected to publish updated guidance shortly.
The Directive creates a regime to reduce the impact on the environment of waste electrical and electronic equipment—hence the acronyms WEEE and EEE. Its aim is to facilitate the reuse and recycling of WEEE. The regulations require that producers of EEE, who put EEE on the UK market, join an approved producer compliance scheme by 15 March 2007, ready for full compliance by July 2007. Distributors who supply EEE for household use will also be required to either join the distributor take-back scheme or offer in-store take-back facilities. There are no special exemptions for small
