On January 19, 2012, the European Parliament voted to pass the amendment to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive). The European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers of the European Union reached an informal tripartite negotiation agreement on the new provisions of the directive amendment on December 20, 2011.
After the revised directive is formally adopted by the Council, it will take effect on the day it is published in the EU's Official Journal and must be implemented in member states 18 months later. However, the transition period for some provisions will be longer. The revised directive contains the following main provisions:
Scope: The revised WEEE Directive covers all types of electrical and electronic equipment. Six years after the revised directive comes into effect, all electrical and electronic equipment must be classified into the six categories listed in Annex III (see Table 1 for details), except for items (a) to (g) below. During the six-year transition period (the classification principles are roughly the same as the classification of the directive before the amendment (10 major categories, see Table 2 for details)).
Table 1. WEEE Amendment Directive Specification EEE Category Classification
| category | Annex 3 EEE classification | Category list |
| 1 | temperature equipment | Refrigerators, freezers, air conditioning equipment, dehumidification equipment… |
| 2 | Screens, monitors and screens larger than 100 cm2equipment | Screens, TVs, LCD photo frames, monitors, laptops… |
| 3 | lighting equipment | Linear fluorescent tubes, small fluorescent tubes, fluorescent tubes, low-pressure sodium tubes, LED… |
| 4 | Large equipment (any external dimension greater than 50cm) | Washing machines, dishwashers, electric stoves, audio equipment, processing equipment for knitting, large photocopiers, large medical equipment, large monitoring equipment, large coin-operated slot machines, solar panels... |
| 5 | Small equipment (external dimensions not larger than 50cm) | Vacuum cleaners, processing equipment for sewing, microwave ovens, computers, ventilation equipment, clocks, musical instruments, electronic toys, sports equipment, smoke detectors, thermostats, small electronic tools, small medical equipment, small monitoring equipment, attached small Equipment solar panels… |
| 6 | Small information and communication equipment (external dimensions not larger than 50cm) | Cell phones, GPS, PCs, printers, phones… |
Table 2 Classification of EEE categories during the transition period of the WEEE Amendment Directive
| category | Annex 1 EEE Classification | Category list |
| 1 | Large household appliances | Air conditioners, microwave ovens, washing machines… |
| 2 | Small household electrical appliances | Vacuum cleaners, toasters, other cleaning appliances… |
| 3 | Information technology and communication equipment | Laptops, public phones… |
| 4 | consumer devices | TVs, audio equipment… |
| 5 | lighting equipment | Small fluorescent tubes… |
| 6 | Electrical and electronic tools | Drilling machine, sewing machine… |
| 7 | Toys, leisure and sports equipment | TV arcades, slot machines… |
| 8 | medical equipment | Radiation therapy equipment, cardiac instruments… |
| 9 | Monitoring and control instruments | Smoke detectors, temperature regulators… |
| 10 | vending machine | Hot drink vending machine… |
The revised directive will not apply to the following electrical and electronic equipment:
(a) Equipment intended for use in outer space;
(b) Large stationary industrial tools;
(c) Large fixtures;
(d) Passenger and cargo transportation means;
(e) Non-road mobile machinery for professional purposes;
(f) Equipment designed for research and development purposes is limited to a business-to-business supply model;
(g) Medical devices and in vitro diagnostic medical devices, as well as active implantable medical devices.
Recycling of small scrap electrical and electronic equipment: Member states must ensure that dealers provide collection points at or near retail stores to collect scrapped small electrical or electronic equipment (the outer dimensions of which do not exceed 25 cm). End users do not need to pay There is no cost or obligation to purchase similar models of electrical or electronic equipment. Examples of small electrical or electronic equipment include mobile phones, cameras and small audio-visual products.
Collection target: Each member state must ensure that manufacturers implement it, and on this basis, a minimum collection rate must be achieved every year. Four years after the new revised directive takes effect, that is, starting from 2016, the minimum collection rate will be 45%. Based on the total weight of electrical and electronic equipment waste collected by the relevant member state in a certain year, the total weight will be calculated as a percentage of the total weight of the waste. Ratio of the average weight of electrical and electronic equipment put on the market in the country in the previous three years. After that, member states must ensure that the collection volume gradually increases. By 2019, the collection rate should reach 65% of electrical and electronic equipment on the market in the previous three years, or 85% of electrical and electronic equipment waste generated within the country.
Ten member states including Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia will set lower collection targets due to the lack of relevant structures and low levels of use of electrical and electronic equipment.
Recycling targets: Member States must ensure that manufacturers meet the minimum targets set out in Annex V. The goal is achieved in 3 stages. The first and second phases focus on standardizing 10 categories of product classifications during the transition period (Table 2), while the third phase focuses on 6 categories of products (Table 1) specified in the WEEE Amendment Directive.
For example, from the effective date of the directive to 3 years later, equipment belonging to Category 4 (i.e. any large equipment with an external dimension exceeding 50 cm), including information technology and communication equipment, toys, leisure and sports equipment, must meet the following goals: The recovery rate must reach 75%, and the recycling rate must reach 65%; after 3 years, the recovery rate must reach 80%, and the ready recycling rate must reach 70%; after another three years, the recovery rate must reach 85%, and the ready recycling rate must reach 80%. Please see the table below for details.
Phase 1: Minimum recycling rate target within 3 years of the WEEE amendment directive taking effect:
| Product Category (Annex 1 of the WEEE Amendment Directive) | Recovery rate target (%) |
| Recovery | Recycling |
| 1 or 10 | 80 | 75 |
| 3 or 4 | 75 | 65 |
| 2, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 | 70 | 50 |
| gas discharge lamp | — | 80 |
Phase 2: Minimum recycling rate target between 3 and 6 years after the WEEE amendment directive comes into effect:
| Product Category (Annex 1 of the WEEE Amendment Directive) | Recovery rate target (%) |
| Recovery | Recycling |
| 1 or 10 | 85 | 80 |
| 3 or 4 | 80 | 70 |
| 2, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 | 75 | 55 |
| gas discharge lamp | — | 80 |
Phase III: Minimum recycling rate target 6 years after this directive enters into force:
| Product Category (Annex 3 of the WEEE Amendment Directive) | Recovery rate target (%) |
| Recovery | Recycling |
| 1 or 4 | 85 | 80 |
| 2 | 80 | 70 |
| 5 or 6 | 75 | 55 |
| 3 | — | 80 |
Nanomaterials: The directive adds some words to enable the European Commission to assess whether Annex VII needs to be revised to deal with nanomaterials in electrical and electronic equipment.
Shipping of scrap electrical and electronic equipment: The Directive tightens regulations on the shipment of non-damaged electrical and electronic equipment to non-EU countries. To distinguish electrical and electronic equipment from electrical and electronic equipment waste, Member States must require the holder to provide the following proof when the holder claims that the intended shipment is used electrical and electronic equipment rather than scrap electrical and electronic equipment: (a ) A copy of the invoice and contract, indicating that the equipment is for direct reuse and fully functional; (b) A copy of the evaluation or testing record of each piece of equipment in the batch of goods, such as testing certificates and functional certificates; ( c) The person who holds and arranges for the delivery of the electrical and electronic equipment declares that there is no waste material or equipment in the goods; (d) Provides adequate protection for the goods with adequate packaging and appropriate stacking methods to prevent the goods from being Damaged during transportation, loading and unloading.
Manufacturer registration: The revised directive simplifies registration and reporting requirements for manufacturers of electrical and electronic equipment. However, after the directive comes into effect, manufacturers that do not have a place of business in a member country must still appoint a representative in that country with written authorization.
Registration agencies in member countries will provide links to registration agencies in other member states on their websites to facilitate manufacturers or recognized representatives to handle registration procedures.
Transposing the directive into national regulations: 18 months from the date the revised directive is published in the EU's Official Journal, all member states must transpose the provisions of the directive into national regulations for domestic implementation. The original WEEE Directive (Directive No. 2002/96/EC) will be abolished.
Source: European Parliament (2012-01-19)
