The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations apply to electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) in the categories listed below with a voltage of up to 1000 volts for alternating current or up to 1500 volts for direct current.
You will need to comply with the WEEE Regulations if you generate, handle or dispose of waste that falls under one of ten categories of WEEE:
- Large household appliances
- Small household appliances
- IT and telecommunications equipment
- Consumer equipment
- Lighting equipment
- Electrical and electronic tools
- Toys, leisure and sports equipment
- Medical devices
- Monitoring and control equipment
- Automatic dispensers.
Schedule two of the WEEE Regulations provides examples of products falling within these categories.
The WEEE Regulations apply to importers, producers, retailers and users of EEE, and to businesses that treat or recover WEEE.
The regulations aim to:
- reduce waste from electrical and electronic equipment
- encourage the separate collection of WEEE
- encourage treatment, reuse, recovery, recycling and sound environmental disposal of WEEE
- make producers of EEE responsible for the environmental impact of their products
- improve the environmental performance of all those involved during the lifecycle of EEE.
Your environmental regulator will enforce the producer responsibility aspects of the WEEE regulations regarding collection, disposal and processing of WEEE.
The Restriction of Hazardous Substances Regulations
The Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Regulations aim to minimise the use of certain hazardous materials in new EEE. The requirements apply to eight of the ten WEEE categories and mainly affect producers of EEE. Producers must provide evidence that concentrations of hazardous materials in their products are below defined levels. This includes all individual components and materials.
