**UK Publishes 2007 WEEE Implementation Progress Report** The UK Department for Business, Enterprise and Reform (BERR) has published a progress report on the implementation of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE). The report includes: 1. A summary of the UK's WEEE implementation and development (covering the period from July 31 to December 31, 2007); 2. A summary of the revised WEEE regulations submitted to Parliament on December 11, 2007; 3. An overview of the UK's WEEE implementation direction for 2008 (covering the period from January 1 to December 31, 2008).
UK WEEE Implementation Status:
n The Producer Compliance Scheme had registered 4,065 producers with the UK Environment Agency by the end of 2007;
n Registered producers had declared 1,510,000 tons of household electrical and electronic equipment for sale, compared to 510,000 tons in 2006;
n Detailed information on the Producer Recycling Scheme and registered producers can be found at: www.environment-agency.gov.uk/weee
n As of November 5, 2007, the Distributor Takeback Scheme... The Scheme has 2,680 members, whose companies account for over 75% of the UK's electronic retail sales. The growth in the number of members in the Distributor Recycling System indicates that small distributors are increasingly aware of the importance of producer responsibility. The Distributor Recycling System's membership fees are used to sponsor local authorities to upgrade and improve facilities for local residents. Approved Authorised Treatment Facilities and Qualified Exporters: Between July 31 and December 31, 2007, 158 applications were received to become approved treatment facilities (covering 283 areas); of these, 143 applications were approved, and 248 areas became approved treatment facilities. Between January 1 and December 31, 2008, 114 applications were approved, and a total of 202 areas became approved treatment facilities. Between July 31 and December 31, 2007, 41 exporters were authorized as qualified exporters; and between January 1 and December 31, 2008, 32 applications for becoming qualified exporters have been received to date.
Separately collected waste electrical and electronic equipment:
Statistics show that in the first three months of implementation, the UK WEEE system had already recycled over 100,000 tons of private household waste electrical and electronic equipment. Based on this figure, it is estimated that after 12 months of implementation, the recycling rate per person in the UK will be 7 kg per year, instead of the 4 kg per resident per year set by the EU.
Key points of the revised UK WEEE regulations are summarized below:
n The revised UK WEEE regulations were submitted to Parliament on December 11, 2007, and officially came into effect on January 1, 2008;
n The revised UK WEEE regulations made revisions to five key areas of the UK WEEE system, namely:
(1) Calculation of reuse rate and proof of compliance;
(2) Only Approved Authorised Treatment Facilities; The unit of calculation in the certificate issued by AATFs should be in kilograms (e.g., 4250 kg instead of 4.250 tons) because decimal points are prone to causing data errors; (3) The last holder of waste electrical and electronic equipment for private use has the right to return the waste equipment to the system free of charge; (4) The compliance report between July 31 and December 31, 2007 was originally due by February 15, 2008, but the deadline was extended to April 30 in the revised WEEE; (5) The Secretary of State will stipulate and announce the standard record format for dealers. In the first quarter of 2008, the UK Department for Business and Reform will focus on the following: (1) Establishment of the WEEE Advisory Group – The list of chairpersons and members of the WEEE Advisory Group was announced on December 3, 2007. After the initial phase is completed, the Advisory Group will meet once a quarter. The WEEE Advisory Group aims to consider issues arising from the promotion and improvement of the UK WEEE system. The agenda and minutes of each subsequent WEEE Advisory Group meeting will be uploaded to the BERR website.
(2) Pay attention to the EU's review of the WEEE Directive – Although the EU has not made any major revisions to the WEEE Directive at present, it is expected that some minor revisions will be made to certain parts of the Directive in the future. For example: producer registration, regulations on processing procedures, and whether the 4 kg recycling per person per year is appropriate, etc.;
(3) Establish a problem-solving center;
(4) Establish and promote good operating practices to prioritize the recycling of equipment.
This UK WEEE progress report, published by the UK Department for Business, Enterprise and Reform (BERR), is 7 pages long. Please refer to the attachment for the original text.
– Reference source: UK Department for Business, Enterprise and Reform (BERR) 2008-02-13
– Translated by Plastics Industry Technology Development Center Foundation
For reference only, please refer to the original text. |
