WEEE and RoHS

On 15 April 2008, the European Commission (the Commission) launched a consultation on the options for amending the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (2002/96/EC) (WEEE Directive) as part of its general review of the WEEE Directive (see Commission announcement).The WEEE Directive aims to minimise the impact of electrical and electronic equipment on the environment by increasing its reuse and recycling, thus reducing the amount of WEEE sent to landfill. It requires the Commission to review its implementation of the WEEE Directive and report to the European Parliament and Council by 31 December 2008, together with any proposals for its amendment.The Commission's review document suggests the following options for amendment:Increasing targets for some or all of the current ten categories of WEEE collected, reused and recycled by member states, as well as adding medical devices.Including categories of WEEE currently excluded, such as military equipment and large stationary industrial tools.Harmonising implementation of the WEEE Directive across member states.Including distance selling within the definition of "producer".Scheme financing obligations.Product labelling requirements.Setting treatment technology and technique standards.The Commission points out that a considerable amount of the information that would assist the review is in the hands of member states, competent authorities, businesses, industry associations and NGOs.The consultation closes o

The DTI has deferred its timetable for implementing the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (2002/96/EC) and the Restriction of the use of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (2002/95/EC).

The DTI has published the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/2748), which have been laid before Parliament and will come into force on 1 July 2006.

European Parliament (and others) v European Commission (and UK) (Joined Cases C14/06 and C295/06)On 1 April 2008, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that the European Commission had been wrong to exempt the bromine-based flame retardant, DecaBDE, from the scope of the Directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (2002/95/EC) (RoHS Directive).On 8 April 2008, the Commission, in accepting the ruling, confirmed that operators should consider 30 June 2008 the final cut-off date for placing new electronic and electrical goods containing DecaBDE on the EU market. The decision in this long-running case is a blow to the bromine industry, although many electrical and electronic manufacturers have already switched to bromine-free alternatives which present minimal risks to the environment and human health.

Directive 2002/95/EC on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS Directive) provides that new electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) placed on the EU market on or after 1 July 2006 must not contain more than the permissible maximum concentrations of certain hazardous substances (such as lead, mercury and cadmium). These restrictions are subject to a number of exemptions and apply to a very wide range of EEE.The RoHS Directive was implemented into UK law by the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2006 (RoHS Regulations), which came into force on 1 July 2006.The European Commission is consulting, in several stages, on a review of the RoHS Directive. This is the first stage of the consultation, which is primarily an information gathering exercise (see Consultation Document). The Commission has asked for views on a number of issues, including:Extending the RoHS Directive to cover more hazardous substances.Changing the procedure and criteria for granting exemptions.Clarifying a number of definitions, such as "put on the market".Creating a more uniform way of enforcing the regime across all member states.The deadline for responses to the first stage of the consultation is 22 May 2007. The Commission is expected to consult on detailed changes to the RoHS Directive in 2008.The RoHS Regulations will need to be amended in due course to refle

The European Commission is consulting on its review of the 29 exemptions listed in the Annex to the Directive on the Restriction of Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (2002/95/EC) (the RoHS Directive). The consultation closes on 1 April 2008. This consultation is separate to a broader review and consultation currently being undertaken on amendments to the RoHS Directive.

The European Commission has published three decisions in the EU Official Journal which exempt a number of materials and components containing lead, cadmium or hexavalent chromium, and lead bound in crystal glass, from the prohibition in the Restriction on the Use of Hazardous Substances in Electronic and Electrical Equipment Directive (2002/95/EC) (RoHS Directive). The exemption for hexavalent chromium lasts until 1 July 2007. However, the other exemptions are indefinite, subject to the usual four-year review. These new exemptions have not yet been incorporated into the UK's implementing RoHS Regulations (SI 2005/2748).Source: Commission Decisions, 2006/690/EC, 2006/691/EC and 2006/692/EC, 12 October 2006.

An update on the European Commission's publication, on 3 December 2008, of its proposal to revise (recast) the Restriction on the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (2002/95/EC) (RoHS Directive).

The Commission has issued a final written warning to the UK under Article 226 of the EC Treaty in respect of its failure to transpose into national law various directives regarding the disposal of electronic waste and electrical equipment and the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment.

The DTI has launched a consultation on the draft regulations implementing the EC Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (2002/96) which are to come into force in the UK in July 2007.

The DTI has announced a fourth consultation exercise on the implementation of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive, which will delay both the publication of finalised regulations and guidance, and practical steps such as the registration of producers.

On 1 July 2008, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform issued updated Guidance (the Guidance) on the Restriction of Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS) regime. The Guidance: Includes three new hazardous substance exemptions based on European Commission decisions reported in the Official Journal on 24 May 2008.Removes the former exemption for DecaBDE (a flame retardant) in the wake of the decision by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in April 2008, which took effect from 1 July 2008 (see Legal update, ECJ bans flame retardant DecaBDE). The EU Directive on the Restriction of Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (2002/95/EC) (the RoHS Directive) requires producers who put electrical and electronic equipment on the EU market from 1 July 2006 to ensure that it does not contain more than specified amounts of certain hazardous substances. The RoHS Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/37) implement the RoHS Directive into UK law. The list of exempt hazardous substances in Annex C to the Guidance on the RoHS Regulations has been updated to reflect the changes to the RoHS Directive based on these decisions of the European Commission and the ECJ. For further information on the RoHS regime, see Practice note, RoHS regime: Restrictions on Use of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment.

The Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/2748) have been revoked and replaced with the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/1463). The new Regulations have been laid before Parliament and will come into force on 1 July 2006.

The DTI has published a revised version of its non-legally binding guidance on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/1463) (RoHS Regulations) (see Revised RoHS Guidance). The January 2007 version replaces the previous version of the guidance dated June 2006. For a summary of the RoHS Regulations, see Legal update, New RoHS Regulations laid before Parliament.  

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive came into force on 13 February 2003.

The Department for Trade and Industry has published two guidance notes on the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/3289) (WEEE Regulations): WEEE Regulations. Code of Practice for collection of WEEE from Designated Collection Facilities. The DTI has also announced that Valpak has been appointed by the Government and the British Retail Consortium to operate the distributor take back scheme required under the WEEE Regulations. For background information on the WEEE Regulations, see: Legal update, Regulations on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) adopted. Article, WEEE compliance: next steps for producers and distributors, March 2007, PLC magazine. A Practice note on the WEEE Regulations will be published shortly.  

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (Amendment) Regulations 2007 (SI 2007/3454) (the 2007 WEEE Regulations) came into force on 1 January 2008. The 2007 WEEE Regulations make mainly minor amendments to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/3289), which implement the WEEE Directive (2002/96/EC) in the UK. In December 2007, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform published: An updated version of its (non-binding) WEEE Guidance Notes. A Progress Report on implementation of the WEEE regime in the UK.