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The
WEEE Directive
Purpose
The
European Parliament and EU Council have set the goal of reducing
the amount of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)
going to landfill and reducing the hazardous substance content
of Electronic and Electrical Equipment (EEE). This is in light
of the fact that WEEE is Europe's fastest growing waste stream
- growing at three times the rate of other wastes. There is to
be a much more environmentally aware approach to all aspects of
the EEE product cycle including improved product design to allow
for ease of dismantling (for recycling or re-use) and provision
for comprehensive separate WEEE collection systems.
Scope
The
WEEE Directive applies to all electrical and electronic equipment
listed in the categories below:
- Large
household appliances
- Small
household appliances
- IT
and telecommunications equipment
- Consumer
equipment
-
Lighting equipment
- Electrical
and electronic tools (with the exception of large-scale stationary
industrial tools)
- Toys,
leisure and sports equipment
- Medical
devices (with the exception of all implanted and infected products)
- Monitoring
and control instruments
- Automatic
dispensers
NOTE - The Directive does not apply to military equipment
Producer
compliance
In
the WEEE Directive a Producer is defined as any person who, irrespective
of the selling technique used;
- manufactures
and sells EEE under his own brand
- resells
under his own brand equipment produced by other suppliers
- imports
or exports EEE on a professional basis into a Member State
The
main aim of the directive - to reduce the environmental impact
of WEEE - the underlying sentiment of the directive is "the
producer should pay", this refers to the funding of collection,
transportation, sorting and recycling or re-use of WEEE, along
with the associated public relations and consultancy costs. The
directive states that producers may undertake these tasks individually
or become part of collaborative schemes with proportionate responsibility.
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