August 29, 2022 What is WEEE and How Does It Impact Your Business?

The WEEE directive aims to ensure that businesses shoulder the costs of dealing with their associated waste.

WEEE stands for the Waste Electrical & Environmental Equipment directive. This is currently 2012/19/EU. The original was 2002/96/EC. These directives have been adopted into UK law and hence still apply in the UK post-Brexit. 

The basics of the WEEE directive 

In simple terms, the WEEE directive aims to ensure that businesses that profit from electric and/or electronic products shoulder the costs of dealing with their associated waste. The WEEE directive applies to any company with a commercial interest in electric and electronic products.  

This includes not just businesses involved with the production, sale, and import/distribution of original products but also businesses involved with the refurbishment, recycling and/or repair of existing electric and electronic products. No exceptions are made for smaller merchants, not even sole traders. 

Businesses that come under the scope of the WEEE directive are mandated to offer their customers the option to recycle their electric and/or electronic waste when they purchase new equipment. 

They are encouraged to do this through in-store collection, but this is not currently mandated. At present, therefore, businesses can choose to support recycling by some other means. For example, they can finance a waste collection and recycling service for equivalent products. 

The responsibility to ensure safe recycling extends beyond just the physical device itself. If necessary, businesses must ensure that any sensitive data is wiped from storage. Failure to do so can result in fines under GDPR as well as the WEEE directive. 

The definition of electric and electronic waste 

If a device is powered by electricity, then it’s probably covered by the WEEE directive. This includes devices that run on batteries, solar power, and even wind-up mechanisms.  

At present, the devices that deliver the power are not considered to be electric or electronic waste. Batteries, however, are likely to be covered by The EU Battery Directive (2006/66/EC). As with the WEEE directive, this has been transposed into UK law. 

The basics of compliance with the WEEE directive 

Most businesses can become WEEE compliant in just three steps. 

1. Register with the appropriate regulator. 

In the UK, if you place more than 5 tonnes of electric and electronic products on the market, you must register with an approved compliance scheme. If you place less than 5 tonnes of electric and electronic products on the market, you can choose between registering with a compliance scheme or registering directly with the relevant environmental regulator. 

The regulators are as follows: 

• The Environment Agency (England)
• The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency
• Natural Resources Wales
• The Northern Ireland Environment Agency 

2. Establish the necessary compliance paperwork 

You will need to declare the volume of electric and electronic products you place on the market in a calendar year along with the volume of electric and electronic products you took back and/or recycled.  

You are also required to educate users on how to dispose of their electric and electronic products at the end of their life. This can be done by providing information on the packaging and/or supporting documentation. 

3. Report and finance take-back/recycling 

You are encouraged to participate in a take-back and recycling or producer compliance scheme. You are obliged to finance a waste collection and recycling service. This must be made available for equivalent products 

Why your business should care about the WEEE directive 

There are three main reasons why your business should care about the WEEE directive. The first and most obvious one is that ignoring it can land you in legal trouble. The second is that it can help to open up market opportunities for you. The third is that it helps to bolster your public image. 

The legal consequences of ignoring the WEEE directive 

Regulators are taking an increasingly hard stance on breaches of the WEEE directive. What’s more, there are several reasons why their stance is only going to get harder over time. Most of these reasons hinge on the fact that electric and electronic waste creates serious issues if it’s not disposed of properly. 

Firstly, it takes up space in landfill. This in itself flies in the face of waste-management policies just about everywhere in the world. Reducing the use of landfill and encouraging recycling are effectively two sides of the same coin. 

Secondly, electric, and electronic waste is particularly bad for the environment and potentially hazardous to health. This is because it routinely contains arsenic, cobalt, lead, and mercury. It also generally contains plastic, glass, and metals, including precious metals. This means that sending electric and electronic waste to landfill is a huge, missed opportunity. 

The cost of this missed opportunity becomes even more apparent when you realise just how hard some of these materials are to source in the first place. For example, materials such as gold, cobalt and rare earths are all notoriously difficult to mine. There is also a high environmental cost to doing so. 

Increased market access 

When you register for WEEE compliance, you are given a registration number. It’s becoming more and more common for businesses and organisations to ask to see this number before they consider doing business with you. 

There are two main drivers behind this trend. Firstly, businesses and organisations need to think about their own public image. They cannot afford to be associated with people who flout the law. Secondly, failure to comply with the WEEE directive is likely to raise questions about your general ethics and credibility.

An improved public image 

The public in general may not understand the full details of why it’s so important to recycle electric and electronic waste. They are, however, very likely to understand, and support, the process of recycling in general. They are also increasingly likely to expect to see businesses playing their role in working towards sustainability. 

Being WEEE compliant shows that you are taking these concerns seriously. In fact, you can turn compliance with the WEEE directive from an administrative task into a marketing asset. For example, you can educate customers about what the WEEE directive really means for them and their future. This will help them to see how your actions are making the world better for them.

About the Author:
Freya Williams is the Sales and Marketing Assistant at Conformance, the UK’s leading independent specialist in Product Safety, CE Marking and UKCA Marking.

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