WEEE Regulations for UK businesses and other non-household (B2B) end users

The main aims of the WEEE Regulations are to reduce electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) waste going to landfill and to ensure that Producers take responsibility for the environmental impact of products they market.

process Most information found on the Internet and within the WEEE regulations themselves focus on Household obligatons, retailer responsiblily and consumer (B2C) WEEE take back points. Concrete and pratical information concerning non-household WEEE (B2B) is harder to find.

This article is aimed at users of B2B EEE whch include businesses, academic instituitions, hospitals, public sector agencies and is designed to highlight changes and responsibilities now the the WEEE regulations are in place.

The WEEE Regulations entered into force in the UK on July 1st 2007 and affect most purchases of new electronic and electrical equipment (EEE) made by organisations of all types and sizes. Ultimately, once the WEEE regulations have fully penetrated, most purchases of new EEE will fall under the WEEE regulations as producers are required to gather WEEE evidence to demonstrate they are meeting their legal obligations.

The WEEE Regulations cover a vast range of electronic & electrical equipment, only few items fall out of scope. Main exemptions include:

Waste electronic & electrical components i.e. items that are not finished equipment in their own right
Large scale fixed installations
Products that do not depend on electricity as the primary power source
Equipment that requires voltage over 1000 AC or 1500 DC to operate
Imbedded or infected medical products
Equipment used exclusively by the military

Regulation 9 places an obligation on manufacturers, companies that resell the product under their own brand and main importers (Producers) to finance the costs of collection, treatment, recovery and environmentally sound disposal of the WEEE for all EEE sold to UK businesses and other non-household (B2B) end users.

Distributors of B2B WEEE do not have obligations under the WEEE regulations, but may perform a voluntary role.

Producers must finance collection and treatment of B2B WEEE in the following circumstances:

When supplying new EEE with equivalent or similar functionality to replace WEEE purchased before 13 August 2005. In some cases the producer will be financing equipment originally supplied by another producer. This is often referred to ‘Historic WEEE’
When an end user wishes to discard any EEE purchased on or after 13 August 2005

In these cases collection, treatment and recovery may be undertaken either by the producer directly, or their Producer Compliance Scheme. In order to arrange this free disposal service the responsible producer should be identified and unless indicated otherwise, their Producer Compliance Scheme informed with details of the WEEE, its availability and location

End User responsibility Wherever the producer is not responsible for financing the collection and treatment of non-household WEEE, the end user of the EEE is responsible. This can occur when:

An end user wishes to discard equipment purchased prior to 13 August 2005 but is not replacing it with a new equivalent. In this case the holder must dispose of this equipment in accordance with the WEEE regulations. This is know as ‘Orphaned WEEE’.

Flexibility
Disposal services offered by Producers directly or via their Compliance scheme may not always meet the requirements of the end user

The WEEE regulations recognise that the limited collection service offered by producers may not suit all organisations thus provisions were made that permit a producer and B2B end user to agree an alternative arrangement for End of life equipment. The Regulations do not state the format of any such commercial arrangement; however the end-user is obliged in to deal with the WEEE in accordance with the WEEE Regulations in relation to the treatment recycling & recovery and environmentally sound disposal of the WEEE.

In practice most alternative arrangement for End of life equipment will be made at the time of purchase and can cover the treatment of the new EEE when it is eventually discarded, and/or for the treatment of any EEE put on the market before 13 August 2005 that is being replaced. Producers must also be able to demonstrate how under such arrangement they would comply with the WEEE Regulations thus the agreement should be in writing and the end user should nominate the AFT they wish to use. The Compliance scheme of the producer selling the new EEE will require these details in order to audit the facility to ensure it offers compliant WEEE treatment and that it has AAFT within the group that can supply WEEE re-use and treatment evidence.

Summary
Under the WEEE regulations the responsibly to arrange and finance WEEE take back and treatment for EEE purchased since August 2005 falls clearly on the original producer. Producers are also obligated to remove and treat equipment supplied prior to this date which is carried out on a ‘like for like’ basis at the time of supply. In many cases the producer may be removing equipment not manufactured by them. End users are required to finance treatment, reuse, recovery and sound environmental disposal for ‘Orphaned WEEE’ where the holder is left with residual equipment because it is not being replaced and for WEEE where the producer cannot be identified.

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