In this issue: The WEEE Recast

Transcription

1 Issue 97 January 30, 2014 In this issue: The WEEE Recast Q&A with: Howard Stimpson ENVIRON

2 The WEEE Recast Q&A WITH HOWARD STIMPSON, ENVIRON Overview The EU s Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive requires producers of electronic equipment to take responsibility for product end-of-life by financing collection and recycling. The aim is to stop electrical items being incinerated or landfilled. In 2012 the EU passed an updated directive, called the WEEE recast, which makes several changes to the original regulations. But because of the EU s process of transposing bloc-wide directives into national law, many of the changes have yet to be felt. Howard Stimpson explains what manufacturers and other companies should be looking out for. Environmental Leader: What is the history of WEEE? Has it posed a challenge for companies? Howard Stimpson: Member states had until August 2005 to introduce the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive into their national legislation. There were 25 member states at the time. WEEE contained a set of minimum requirements, but member states were free to implement it as they saw fit. This meant you had a patchwork of compliance obligations placed on producers. There were significant differences between existing EU nations, and new members acceding to the EU also put their own regulations in place to implement WEEE. This makes it difficult for manufacturers to understand what the obligations are in each particular country and to comply. With 28 member states, it is essentially 28 separate pieces of legislation. So it is quite a tall undertaking, and the challenge is for companies to understand what they need to do to comply with these quite detailed regulations. 2

3 EL: Where does the WEEE recast stand? HS: The WEEE recast directive, published in 2012, introduced fairly significant changes. These include not only the types of products covered but how companies may be obligated. But interpretation is still largely up to the individual countries. Member states now have until February 14 to introduce their own national legislation or amend existing WEEE legislation. At the moment only one country, the UK, has actually finalized and published WEEE regulations. (Ironically, it was one of the last to incorporate the original regulations.) Ten countries to date have draft regulations, which they have not finalized or published in environmental legislation registers; and eight countries are out with stakeholder consultations. At this stage we don t know what most of these countries regulations are going to require. We have a good idea from the WEEE recast what most will be looking to implement, but don t know how that is going to take place on a country-by-country basis. EL: One of the big changes is related to the types of products covered, correct? HS: Yes. The original WEEE directive concentrated on particular product groups. It has ten distinct product categories, although these are indicative categories and do not specify every single covered product. But the recast makes it more open scope, starting August 15, From that date, WEEE will apply to all electronic and electrical equipment except for specifically excluded exemptions. This opens up the directive to apply to many more products than the original and that s something we would expect to apply equally to member states. There will be six new product categories to provide differentiated recovery and recycling targets. One of the big product types now specifically mentioned as in-scope by the WEEE recast is photovoltaic panels. Previously there was a gray area as to whether they fell in scope. 3

4 We are waiting to see what member states regulations regard as in scope or out of scope. It s something we really don t know until those regulations are implemented. EL: What other changes does the WEEE recast make? HS: The original WEEE made the definition of a producer dependent on whether the company is selling products into a particular country either by manufacturing, importing or rebranding. The recast is more far-reaching as to how producers sell into particular countries, particularly identifying companies that are based in one country and selling into another. That wasn t specifically identified as an obligated activity before, but the recast does address this and looks at sales arrangements in a little more detail. Until the countries implement the recast and provide detailed guidance, however, we don t know how they will interpret this. The recast also firms up requirements for transport of waste equipment across member state borders. This is something covered by other waste management legislation in Europe and now specifically covered in the WEEE recast as well, with the view to ensure that products are not illegally shipped out of the EU. The recast also provides the option for countries to introduce an exemption for companies that sell less than a certain weight of product. In the UK, these companies have to register with authorities but are not obliged to join a producer compliance scheme to finance collection and recycling. Again, we don t know if other countries will choose to adopt this. EL: Over what timeline can we expect to see changes take place? HS: By February 14, member states are supposed to have transposed the recast into national legislation. We may see a rush of member states introduce legislation and bring it into force. But for the 4

5 original WEEE there were lots of countries that didn t meet that original deadline, and you could arguably extrapolate that something similar will happen this time. As mentioned, August 15, 2018 is when WEEE will apply to all electronic and electrical equipment except for specifically excluded exemptions. Other changes, such as the definition of a producer, will apply as member states bring their regulations into force. EL: What is the upshot for manufacturers and other companies? HS: Even if they have good understanding of regulations as they stand, it s not a case of business as usual. Once the regulations are brought into force, where a particular manufacturer may not have been classed as a producer, it may well be now. These regulations also apply to exporter/importers, and to companies that carry out any sort of rebranding that is, buying a product, putting their company brand on it, and putting the product in that member state market. The take-home message is, if you re selling electrical products into Europe, you have exposure to the WEEE directive. About ENVIRON Since 1982, ENVIRON has worked with clients around the world to help resolve their most demanding environmental and human health issues. We combine resources across geographic boundaries and technical and scientific disciplines to provide clients with the best, most responsive teams whether responding to existing challenges, evaluating opportunities to improve performance or seeking to reduce future liabilities. Clients benefit from our unique ability to bring clarity to issues at the intersection of science, business and policy. 5

6 The entrepreneurial spark that defined ENVIRON's beginnings remains evident in each innovative, forward-thinking solution we deliver. Advances in science and technology and evolving regulatory, legal and social pressures create increasingly complex challenges for businesses. We evolve to keep pace with these changes by adding new services, contributing to scientific advances or expanding geographically all with an eye to supporting our clients' changing needs. More information about WEEE and the WEEE recast is available from an ENVIRON website, Author Profile: Howard Stimpson Howard Stimpson has over 10 years experience in WEEE, RoHS and eco-design quantitative assessments, air quality modeling and monitoring, and geographic information system (GIS) applications. He has developed and delivered a range of corporate web design and content solutions to address particular client requirements including bespoke web design and content to enable over 50 producers of electronic equipment in Europe to manage pan-european, business-to-business WEEE collection and recycling arrangements through their company websites. He has also provided compliance solutions to over 20 companies to allow them to meet their producer responsibility obligations under the EC Batteries and Packaging Directives across Europe. Howard holds an MSc (Dist) in Environmental Management and Technology and a BSc (Joint Hons) in Environmental Sciences and Geography from the Oxford Brookes University. Contact Information Tel: Jeanne Bezerra, Global Director of Communications, jbezerra@environcorp.com URL: LinkedIn: 6