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News Release from: Environ
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 20 October 2006
Webinar to examine WEEE take-back
NEMA has teamed up with Environ to provide a webinar on WEEE take-back for business products in Europe.
NEMA is the leading trade association in the USA representing the interests of electroindustry manufacturers of products used in the generation, transmission and distribution, control, and end-use of electricity One area that NEMA members are struggling with is how to manage compliance with the EC Directive on Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE)
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 10 Mar 2006 at 8.00am (UK)
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The complications arise because WEEE compliance requirements are different in each EU member state.
The WEEE Directive went into effect from August 2005 and requires manufacturers and importers to register as a WEEE producer and provide take-back systems for WEEE in EU Member States.
Producers are required to mark products with crossed-out wheelie bin; register with the WEEE agency in each member state where they put product on the market; report the weight of EEE put on the market in each product category; establish collection and recycling arrangements to meet recycling and recovery targets; report recycling and recovery compliance data to member state WEEE agencies; and provide recycling instructions to treatment facilities on request.
Further reading
Producer compliance scheme is ready for WEEE
Environ has set up a producer compliance scheme for business-to-business WEEE in the UK.
WEEE producer compliance scheme opens for business
Environ's B2BWEEE-scheme is now open for member registration, which will give business-to-business producers the opportunity to join well before the 15th March 2007 deadline.
Engineers and technicians must be trained
Leading UK engineering and technology firms, with a combined multi-million pound spend on training and development, will assemble at the IEE 'Investing in Technical Teams' forum on 4 November 2004.
In particular, the directive requires manufacturers and importers of business products to provide collection and recycling arrangements for all new products sold after August 2005 when they become waste (new WEEE), and the old products that are replaced by the sale of new products after August 2005 (historic WEEE), if requested by the end-user.
However, the producer can agree alternative contractual arrangements with the end user.
In practice, each EU Member State has implemented the WEEE Directive into its national regulations in different way.
This has resulted in 25 variations of the WEEE Directive across Europe.
One of immediate differences is the deadlines for manufacturers and importers to register as the WEEE producer in EU Member States.
Two countries coming up soon are France (30th November 2006) and the UK (15th March 2007).
Another complication is that some Member States have introduced different requirements for producers of business products.
For example, end-users are responsible for all historic WEEE in Germany and France, regardless of whether the business end-user buys a new replacement product.
The producers are only responsible for providing collection and recycling arrangements for the new products which are sold after August 2005 when they become waste.
New business products are generally covered by a two or three year warranty.
Although it is a legal requirement to provide collection and recycling arrangements for business products in these countries, it is unlikely that there will be any waste collected through these arrangements for several years.
A further complication is that the UK is the only EU member state that does not allow producers to register and report directly to the environmental agencies.
Instead, all manufacturers and importers in the UK are required to join an approved producer compliance scheme before 15th March 2007.
Environ's Producer Compliance Scheme services offer a number of options.
Overseas manufacturers (ie those who do not have a business address in the UK) can register with Environ on behalf of all importers in the UK.
And a registration and reporting service is available for producers who wish to continue to use their own existing WEEE collection and recycling arrangements, provided they comply with UK WEEE regulations and waste management legislation.
To help companies to assess the issues and options for compliance for business products, NEMA has teamed up with Environ to provide a webinar on WEEE take-back for business products in Europe.
To allow companies across the USA and Europe to log into the web presentation and accompanying telephone conference, the webinar will be held on Wednesday 8th November at 1000 Eastern Time (1500 GMT).
Registration is only online and via credit card on the NEMA website (www.nema.org).
The webinar will address: the different WEEE take-back obligations for B2B and B2C products; option to join schemes for B2B WEEE in each country: comparison of low and high cost schemes; the option to use producer's website to manage take-back of B2B WEEE across EU member states; enabling the business end user to arrange and pay for WEEE collection; choosing a pan-European WEEE recycler and how recycling prices are falling across Europe; and a question and answer session.
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