Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (Producer Responsibility) Regulations 2005

The WEEE regulations are expected to be passed in summer 2005 with the regime starting in January 2006. The regime contains implications for the product manufacturers, component manufacturers, importers, retailers and consumers of electrical equipment.

The directive may impact directly upon certain furniture manufacturers. For example, many kitchen companies sell electrical appliances along with their wood based products. Other companies have electrical elements to their furniture such as lights in cabinets or electric recliner mechanisms. Interpretation is still being sought on whether the latter elements would fall within the scope of the directive. Current discussions with DTI suggest that where the electrical equipment is integral to the product, the item would fall within the scope of the legislation.

The regulations apply to all electrical and electronic equipment placed on the market in the United Kingdom falling into one of ten product categories. A specified percentage of these items must be recycled and recovered when they reach the end of their working life.

There are a number of exemptions, two of which are of particular relevance:

“The electrical or electronic components are not needed to fulfill the primary function .” This is of relevance to furniture which incorporates a small amount of electronic equipment, such as a display cabinet which includes a light. The main function of storage and display can be performed with or without the light, so the item should be exempt from the regulations.
“Electrical equipment that is part of a fixed installation” – exempts items such as woodworking machinery from the regime

Producer definition

Under the regime the obligations fall upon the “producer”. This term is defined as: “any person who:

Manufactures and sells electrical and electronic equipment under his own brand,
Resells under his own brand equipment produced by other suppliers, a reseller not being regarded as the ‘producer' if the brand of the producer appears on the equipment, as provided for in subparagraph (i), or
Imports or exports electrical and electronic equipment on a professional basis into a member State ”

Consequently, smaller kitchen manufacturers which sell branded electrical appliances obtained from a UK source will not incur an obligation. However, if the company imports these items directly from overseas and makes payment to the overseas company rather than a UK based one, an obligation will be incurred.

Producers' obligations

Register with the Environment Agency or a compliance scheme
Provide annual data regarding sales of equipment on the UK market. This will enable the calculation of producers' market share in respect of each product category
Finance the costs of collection, treatment, recovery and environmentally sound disposal of WEEE allocated to them by the NCH. This will typically be achieved through a compliance scheme
Report evidence to show the appropriate amount of WEEE allocated to them is treated at authorised treatment facilities
Producers supplying new equipment to business users from 13 August 2005 will be required to finance the treatment, recovery and disposal of the waste arising from these products unless they make alternative arrangements with the business users.
Producers should ensure the appropriate marking of equipment they place onto the UK market