The UK WEEE Regulations

1
The UK WEEE Regulations

• What the legislation is proposing

2
What is the legislation intending to achieve?

• Changes to current behaviour to encourage
  sustainable development
• Preference for re-use or recycling of wastes
• Intent to cut volumes of waste produced
• Polluter pays

3
What is WEEE?

• EEE Electrical and Electronic Equipment
• equipment dependent on electric currents or
  electromagnetic fields in order to work properly
  and equipment for the generation, transfer and
  measurement of such currents and fields
• WEEE Waste EEE
• "waste" means any substance or object which the
  holder disposes of or is required to dispose of
  pursuant to the provisions of national law

4
Timeframe

• The WEEE Directive was enacted 27th January 2003
• Draft WEEE Regulations were released in the UK at
  the end of July 2004
• The final WEEE Regulations were due to be
  released by August 2004 this is running late
  now expected to be March/April 2005 at the
  earliest.
• The financing and operations should commence on
  the 13th August 2005 but will probably start
  January 2006
• Germany, Austria and Denmark will start in
  January 2006

5
Definitions

• The Producer
• Person who manufactures/sells own brand EEE
• Person who resells under his brand others EEE
• Imports/(Exports) EEE into a member state
• The Distance Seller
• Anyone that sells into the UK from abroad without
  another legal party taking legal ownership
• Are deemed the Producer and have to register
  and have annual obligations under the WEEE Regs
• If not registered, will not (theoretically) be
  permitted to trade

6
Supplies into Europe

• A UK manufacturer selling into Europe via an
  importer has no obligations (but is still defined
  as a Producer under UK law)
• A UK manufacturer selling into Europe direct to
  an end user does have obligations.
• An EU manufacturer selling to a UK distributor
  has no obligations
• A non-EU manufacturer selling into Europe via a
  subsidiary or distributor has no obligations (the
  importer is the Producer)
• A non-EU manufacturer selling into Europe direct
  to an end user has no obligations.

7
Definitions

• Treatment any activity after the WEEE has been
  handed over to a facility for depollution,
  disassembly, shredding, recovery or preparation
  for disposal and any other operation carried out
  for the recovery and/or disposal of the WEEE
• Authorised Treatment Facility (ATF) one that
  has received authorisation under either the Waste
  Management Licencing Legislation or the
  proposed/delayed DEFRAs permitting approach

8
The 10 Categories

• The category listing is only indicative not
  definitive.
• WEEE legislation only applies to separately
  collected WEEE it does not apply to WEEE
  collected in the general refuse stream.
• If the end user decides to throw the WEEE away -
  you have no obligations

9
But concerning the separately collected WEEE

• Producers have the financial responsibility
  covering collection, pre-treatment, treatment,
  storage, recovery, reuse, environmentally sound
  disposal of items not recovered and/or reused, as
  well as achieving the recycling targets (along
  with financing RD / market development if
  necessary).

10
Legislation Components

• Part IV Producer Obligations
• 16
• Registration
• Provision of/for the treatment and recovery of
  WEEE
• To furnish a Certificate of Compliance
• 17
• Compliance scheme can take on these
  responsibilities

11
Legislation Components

• Part V Registration
• Whether carried out through a scheme or not,
  currently requires information on the categories,
  quantities and weight of EEE that the company
  places on the market in a given year.
• This data is to be registered by 12th August 2005
  (and annually on 31st January after 2007) the
  original registration date will probably be
  postponed by 4 months.

12
Legislation Components

• Part VII Financing ---- Historic Business to
  Business Waste
• If the product was originally placed on the
  market BEFORE 13th August 2005 AND is generated
  as WEEE being replaced by an item with similar
  function
• Then the Producer must pay for the collection,
  recovery, reuse, recycling, and for the meeting
  of the targets and provision of documentary
  evidence that this has occurred unless the user
  wishes to do so.
• Otherwise the responsibility remains with the
  user.

13
Legislation Components

• Part VII Financing contd.
• If the product was placed on the market AFTER
  13th August 2005 and subsequently appears as
  WEEE
• Then the Producer must pay for the collection,
  recovery, reuse, recycling, and for the meeting
  of the targets and provision of documentary
  evidence that this has occurred unless
  agreements are reached that the user pays
  regardless of the supply of new product.

14
Legislation Components

• Part VIII Recovery
• Category 8 (Medical Devices) no targets
• Category 9 (Monitoring Control Devices)
• gt70 recovery by weight
• gt50 reuse recycling by weight
• Category 3 (IT Telecoms Equipment)
• gt75 recovery by weight
• gt65 reuse recycling by weight

15
Legislation Components

• Part IX Information
• Producers must, for all products placed on the
  market after 13th August 2005, mark their
  products with the WEEE symbol and a company
  identifier
• Producers must provide information on the
  components and materials in new EEE to
  recovery/reuse operations

16
Definitions (non-legal)

• Collection physical removal from location where
  they were determined to be no longer required (ie
  therefore a waste) and transfer to a treatment
  location of some description.
• Recovery some process (as defined in the
  previous list) whereby some form of benefit is
  obtained in terms of energy generation or
  material flow generation
• Reuse to reintroduce the item back into
  circulation to perform the same or different task
  but without any modification requirements
• Disassembly a treatment that is effectively the
  reverse of a manufacturing process, where each
  component is separated from the others
• Recycling taking the disassembled materials and
  treating them further (as required) to create raw
  material that can then be reintroduced into the
  start of the manufacturing process of new and/or
  different items.
• Disposal for those components or part
  components that are incapable of being
  recycled/reused/recovered and are to be got rid
  of usually to landfill or incineration. NB
  Incineration with energy recovery is Recovery
  but is not Recycling or Disposal. The
  incinerator ashes (sent to landfill usually on
  one form or another) are classified as Disposal

17
Legal Implications

• The Regulations are complex and still evolving
• Some issues will never be resolved until there is
  a legal challenge then it will be down to the
  judgement of the courts.
• As with the Packaging Waste Regulations, it is
  expected that over 90 of companies will meet
  their obligations through joining a Compliance
  Scheme

18
The Scope of the WEEE Directive

• What Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE)
  is
• included in the obligations under the Directive?
• Originally the European Commission (COM)
  identified
• primarily household consumer products
• But WEEE from Business Users was later added to
  the
• categories to be addressed by this European
  Environmental
• Directive.

19
Article 175

• This article of the treaty allows Member States
  (MS) to vary the scope of the Directive, by their
  national regulations
• Ten Categories
• Most categories easy to identify equipment that
  fits within

20
The three main Categories for our industry

• Cat 9 Monitoring and Control Instruments
• Cat 8 Medical Devices (equipment)
• Cat 3 IT and Telecommunication
  equipment (related to cat. 89)
• Indicative listing of equipment -------

21
Category 9 Monitoring and Control
instruments

• Smoke detectors
• Heating regulators
• Thermostats
• Measuring, weighing or adjusting appliances for
  household or as laboratory equipment
• Other monitoring and control instruments used in
  industrial installations ( e.g. in control panels)

22
Category 8 Medical Devices

• Radiotherapy equipment
• Cardiology
• Dialysis
• Pulmonary ventilators
• Nuclear Medicine
• Laboratory equipment for in-vitro diagnosis
• Analysers
• Freezers
• Fertilization tests
• Other appliances for detecting, preventing,
  monitoring, treating,

23
Category 3 IT and Telecommunication
equipment

• An abbreviated list of relevant equipment
• Centralised data processing, minicomputers
• Laptop computers (CPU, mouse, screen and
  keyboard)
• Printers and other products and equipment for the
  collection, storage, processing, presenting or
  communication of information by electronic means
• And other products or equipment for transmitting
  sound or other information by telecommunications

24
Several statements make the Scope issue
confusing

• Exemption for large scale industrial
  tools/equipment
• Large-scale stationary industrial tool Machine
  or system, consisting of a combination of
  equipments, systems, finished products and/or
  components, (parts), manufactured to be used in
  industry only, permanently fixed and installed by
  professionals at a given place in an industrial
  machinery or in an industrial building to perform
  a specific task.

25
Exemption for items which are electrical and
electronic equipment that are part of another
type of equipment or a fixed installation

• Equipment which is part of another type of
  equipment or system is considered to be outside
  the scope of the Regulations where it does not
  have a direct function outside the other item of
  equipment (e.g. a car radio).

26
Exemption for items which are electrical and
electronic equipment that are part of another
type of equipment or a fixed installation

• Equipment may also be part of fixed installation.
  A fixed installation may be a combination of
  several pieces of equipment, systems, products
  and/or components (parts) assembled and/or
  erected by a professional assembler or installer
  at a given place to operate together in an
  expected environment and to perform a specific
  task. In such a case, elements of a system which
  are not identifiable as electrical and electronic
  equipment in their own right or that do not have
  a direct function away from the installation are
  excluded from the scope of the Regulations.

27
Routes to resolve the confusion

• Technical and/or political
• GAMBICA membership Task Force Group
• Position papers to UK Gov. DTI
• Position papers to European trade federation
• Orgalime, route to European Commission, Council
  and Parliament.

28
GAMBICA Task Force Members

• ABB Legrand
• Aeroflex International Megger
• Alstom Mitsubishi Electric
• Beckman Coulter Moeller Electric
• Bibby- Sterilin MTL Instruments
• Carbolite Rockwell Automation
• Cecil Instruments Saftronics
• Control Techniques Schneider Electric
• Delta Controls Seaward Electronics
• Electrothermal Siemens Process Autom.
• Emerson Process Man. Solartoron Mobrey
• Fluke UK Switchgear Instrument.
• Honeywell Thermo Elemental
• Instron

29
DTI draft Guidance WEEE Document

• Fifty pages
• DTIs attempt to make the Directive sensible and
  understood
• Includes a decision tree procedure to assist in
  identifying equipment in scope and equipment
  out of scope

30
GAMBICA Decision Tree for WEEE scope
determination
Is it electrical or electronic equipment? Draft
Regulation 2 definition
No
Not Covered
Yes
No
Not Covered
Less than 1000 V a.c. or 1500 V d.c.? Draft
Regulation 2 definition
Examples Products for automotive, aircraft or
shipboard use Industrial robots
multi-axis machining centres industrial measureme
nt monitoring platforms (e.g. for pulp
paper)
Yes
Yes
Not Covered
Is it part of an equipment that is not within the
10 Categories of draft regs Schedule 1? Draft
Regulation 5(1)(a)
No
Is it a Large-scale stationary industrial
tool? Draft Regulation Schedule 1 DTI Guidance,
paragraph 14
Yes
Not Covered
No
31
(No Transcript)
32
The players

• Manufacturers, importers, distributors
• Trade Associations, National - e.g. GAMBICA
• European - Orgalime
• For UK --- DTI/DEFRA/EA
• 24 other Member States
• European Commission, Council, Parliament
• European Court of Justice

33
Information Requirements

• Producers to respond to requests for information
  to assist with the reuse, recycling and recovery
  of types of new equipment.
• Producers can decide how to make available
• this information, e.g. labels, website etc

34
Marking obligations

• Equipment put on UK market after 13 August 2005
• - marked with the crossed out wheeled bin symbol
• - indication of put on market after 13 August
  2005
• ( i.e. not historic waste)
• - identify producer e.g brand name, company
  registration number or other unique reference
• - obligated equipment which is not marked with
  the crossed out wheeled bin symbol is deemed
  historic waste
• CENELEC standard ( BSEN 50419), published in
  January 2005)

35
Symbol for the marking of electrical and
electronic equipment

• The symbol indicating separate collection for
  electrical and electronic equipment consists of
  the crossed-out wheeled bin, as shown below. The
  symbol must be printed visibly, legibly and
  indelibly.

36
GERMANY
UK
BELGIUM
1

• In accordance with EN 50419
• No date code is required.

yes
yes
yes
2

• In accordance with EN 50419
• Date codes (if coded) shall be made available to
  treatment facilities.

20041119ABC
yes
yes
yes
37
Put on the market

• Approach taken from the European Commissions
  Guide
• (blue book)
• - the initial action of making a product
  available for the first time on the Community
  market, with a view to distribution or use .
  either for payment or for free

38
WEEEChallenges Solutions
39
Services to industry

• A number of companies in the waste sector have or
  will be offering their services.
• These services may be in the form of a direct
  cost per tonne of category of WEEE
• Some may offer a compliance scheme
• You need to consider which suits your companys
  needs

40
Some of the commercial parties

• REPIC scheme for Consumer products
• Valpak www.valpak.co.uk
• Biffa www.biffa.co.uk
• Cleanaway www.cleanaway.com
• Riduk www.getrid.uk.com
• EMR www.emrltd.com
• and others

41
Complying with the legislation

• Complexities of B to B WEEE not anticipated by
  EU politicians driving forward consumer-focused
  sustainability issues

• B to B captured by legislation but soft touch
  by DTI

• Opportunity for industry to develop its own
  solutions

• GAMBICA Taskforce has addressed upstream issues

• A parallel 18 month programme has addressed
  downstream issues

42
Related issues

• Disposal to landfill becoming increasingly
  expensive

• End users will want to avoid costs and reporting
  responsibilities

• Individual pressure could be applied to
  Producers regardless of 26 provisions (aka
  Article 9 of the Directive)

43
From EEE to WEEE

• EEE industry - detailed, precise, high value
  products and systems

• The waste industry is the opposite

• The product may be specified and ordered
  upstairs

• WEEE is disposed of downstairs

• When one of your products becomes WEEE forget
• How sophisticated it was
• What proportion consisted of electrical/electroni
  c items
• How expensive it was
• What its function was

• It now becomes a collection of scrap materials
  which happen to be attached to each other
  weighed by the tonne

• The value will be negative

44
Preventing Operator Exploitation

• The lessons of the packaging regulations
• Average compliance costs 15/25,000

• The critical mass of a collective approach
  should force competition amongst operators
  logistics, pre-treatment, treatment

• Scheme operators should have experience and
  knowledge of the waste industry and Producer
  Responsibility but be EEE industry-led

• B to B sector requirements are totally different
  from consumer sector

45
Avoiding excessive costs

• Forcing competition amongst Operators

• Critical mass of the collective approach

• Non-obligated WEEE collected - but no cost to
  scheme members

• Focused industry-led sectorial approach

• Not-for-profit and efficiency led

• No vested interests in operations

• Low overheads

46
Achieving Targets

• To achieve recycling targets, Producers may need
  to influence the development of markets for
  recyclate

• This is beyond the means of any individual
  Producer but Producers will have to show that
  they have achieved the targets

• There may have to be investment in R D,
  negotiations with recyclers, exploration of new
  markets particularly on polymers

• The use/acceptance of protocols will reduce costs

• The Scheme will take on these responsibilities
  its members sharing the collective cost

47
B2B Compliance
An initiative of GAMBICA, announced in September
2004, and follows two years exploration of a
potential business-to- business collective
approach

• GAMBICA is the major national trade association
  for industries involved in
• Instrumentation
• Control
• Automation
• Laboratory technology

GAMBICA has over 200 members (the sector has a
combined turnover in excess of 6 billion)
48
B2B Compliance

• GAMBICA B2B Compliance Ltd is a not-for-profit
  company

• It will register a scheme called B2B Compliance

• Membership will be open to both members and
  non-members of GAMBICA

• Focusing on categories 8 9 and related IT (cat
  3)

49
Collective Compliance(Producer only interfaces
with the Collective)
Producer
Government Regulator
Wholesalers
B2B Compliance
End market uses
End Users
Shredders (raw material preparation)
Logistics
Dismantlers
50
B2B ComplianceThe next steps

• The WEEE Regulations are in the final stages of
  their preparation. Even when published their
  interpretation will be an ongoing discussion
  between industry and Government.
• Pragmatism and the law
• The use of Protocols
• B2B operations and the National Clearing House
• Targets for Category 8?
• Evolution of the Regulations
• Future interpretations of the Directive?

51
B2B ComplianceEurope

• B2B Compliance has applied to join a network of
  European industry-led not-for-profit schemes.
• This will enable us to assist those who are
  distance sellers by forming back-to-back
  relationships with other MS schemes which have
  distance selling obligations
• It will enable us, via the network, to advise
  your distributor customers in other MS who,
  legally, are the Producers.
• We can lobby with one common voice to achieve
  efficiencies and pragmatic solutions

52
B2B Compliancethe next steps
The Scheme will present its prospectus and invite
membership during 2005
Its charges will relate to
1. A joining fee will be based on UK sales
turnover
2. A membership fee will be based on number and
weight of products put on the market ( data
as required by law)
53
B2B Compliance
The Membership Fee
Relates to the first compliance period
Includes all administrative and management costs
Includes all operational costs
Payable quarterly in advance
Preliminary reconciliation in the final quarter
For budgeting purposes only
54
Be aware (and beware)

• A Compliance Scheme cannot formally recruit
  members until the scheme is registered with HMG

• A scheme cannot apply to be registered until
  after the regulations are published

• The regulations are running late

• Various waste operators are offering
  pre-compliance schemes (focused on consumer
  products) at a cost - these are appear to be
  simply newsgroups.

55
GAMBICAwww.gambica.org.uk

• B2B Compliance
• www.b2bcompliance.org.uk
• Created by industry for industry