On January 19, 2012, the European Parliament voted to approve the amendments 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 had reached an informal tripartite agreement on the new provisions of the amendments on December 20, 2011.
The revised directive, once formally adopted by the Council, will enter into force on the date of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union, and will be implemented in Member States 18 months later, although some provisions may have a longer transition period. 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, except for items (a) to (g) below, must be classified into the six categories listed in Annex III (see Table 1). During the six-year transition period, the classification principles will be largely the same as those of the pre-amendment Directive (10 categories, see Table 2).
Table 1. WEEE Amendment Directive Specification: WEEE Category Classification
| category | Appendix 3 EEE Classification | Category List |
| 1 | Temperature equipment | Refrigerators, freezers, air conditioning equipment, dehumidifiers… |
| 2 | Screens, monitors, and devices with screens larger than 100 cm² | Screens, TVs, LCD photo frames, monitors, laptops… |
| 3 | lighting equipment | Linear fluorescent tubes, small fluorescent tubes, fluorescent tubes, low-pressure sodium lamps, LEDs… |
| 4 | Large equipment (any external dimension greater than 50cm) | Washing machines, dishwashers, electric stoves, audio equipment, weaving processing tools, large photocopiers, large medical equipment, large surveillance equipment, large coin-operated slot machines, solar panels… |
| 5 | Small equipment (external dimensions not exceeding 50cm) | Vacuum cleaners, sewing tools, microwave ovens, computers, ventilation equipment, clocks, musical instruments, electronic toys, sports equipment, smoke detectors, thermostats, small electronic tools, small medical devices, small monitoring equipment, solar panels with small components… |
| 6 | Small information and communication devices (external dimensions not exceeding 50cm) | Mobile phones, GPS devices, personal computers, printers, telephones… |
Table 2. EEE Category Classification During the Transition Period of the WEEE Amendment Directive
| category | Appendix 1: EEE Classification | Category List |
| 1 | Large household appliances | Air conditioners, microwave ovens, washing machines... |
| 2 | Small household appliances | Vacuum cleaners, toasters, and other cleaning appliances… |
| 3 | Information technology and communication equipment | Laptops, public telephones… |
| 4 | Consumer devices | Televisions, audio equipment... |
| 5 | lighting equipment | Miniature fluorescent tubes… |
| 6 | Motors and electronic tools | Drilling machine, sewing machine... |
| 7 | Toys, leisure and sports equipment | Video game consoles, slot machines... |
| 8 | medical equipment | Radiation therapy equipment, cardiac instruments... |
| 9 | Monitoring and control instruments | Smoke detectors, temperature regulators... |
| 10 | vending machine | Hot beverage vending machine... |
The revised directive will not apply to the following electrical and electronic devices:
(a) Equipment intended for use in outer space;
(b) Large stationary industrial tools;
(c) Large stationary installations;
(d) Passenger and freight transport vehicles;
(e) Non-road mobile machinery for specialized purposes;
(f) Equipment designed specifically for research and development purposes, limited to business-to-business supply models;
(g) Medical instruments and in vitro diagnostic medical instruments, as well as active implantable medical instruments.
Recycling of small, end-of-life electrical and electronic devices: Member States must ensure that dealers provide collection points in or near their retail stores for the collection of end-of-life small electrical or electronic devices (with an outer dimension not exceeding 25 cm). End users are not required to pay any fees and are not obligated to purchase similar models of electrical or electronic devices. Examples of small electrical or electronic devices include mobile phones, cameras, and small audio-visual products.
Collection Targets: Each Member State must ensure that manufacturers fully comply with the directive, achieving a minimum collection rate annually. Starting four years after the year the revised directive comes into effect (i.e., from 2016), the minimum collection rate will be 45%, calculated based on the total weight of electrical and electronic equipment waste collected by the Member State in a given year, as a percentage of the average weight of electrical and electronic equipment placed on the market in that country over the previous three years. Subsequently, Member States must ensure a gradual increase in collection volume, reaching a collection rate of 65% of electrical and electronic equipment on the market in the previous three years, or 85% of electrical and electronic equipment waste generated within their territory, by 2019.
Ten member states—Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia—will set lower collection targets due to a lack of relevant infrastructure and low levels of electrical and electronic equipment usage.
Recycling and Reuse Targets: Member States must ensure that producers meet the minimum targets set forth in Annex V. These targets are to be achieved in three phases. The first and second phases primarily focus on the 10 product categories regulated during the transition period (Table 2), while the third phase primarily focuses on the 6 product categories regulated by the WEEE Amendment Directive (Table 1).
For example, from the effective date of the directive until three 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, and leisure and sports equipment, must meet the following targets: a recycling rate of 75% and a reuse rate of 65%; after three years, the recycling rate must reach 80% and the readiness for reuse rate must reach 70%; and after another three years, the recycling rate must reach 85% and the readiness for reuse rate must reach 80%. See the table below for details.
Phase 1: Minimum recovery rate target within 3 years of the WEEE Amendment Directive taking effect:
| Product Categories (Attachment 1 to the WEEE Amendment Directive) | Recovery rate target (%) |
| 回收再利用(Recovery) | 循環再用(Recycling) |
| 1 或10 | 80 | 75 |
| 3 或 4 | 75 | 65 |
| 2, 5, 6, 7, 8 或 9 | 70 | 50 |
| Gas discharge lamp | — | 80 |
Phase Two: Minimum recovery rate target for 3 to 6 years after the WEEE Amendment Directive takes effect:
| Product Categories (Attachment 1 to the WEEE Amendment Directive) | Recovery rate target (%) |
| 回收再利用(Recovery) | 循環再用(Recycling) |
| 1 或10 | 85 | 80 |
| 3 或 4 | 80 | 70 |
| 2, 5, 6, 7, 8 或 9 | 75 | 55 |
| Gas discharge lamp | — | 80 |
Phase Three: Minimum Recovery Rate Target Six Years After This Directive Takes Effect:
| Product Categories (Attachment 3 to the WEEE Amendment Directive) | Recovery rate target (%) |
| 回收再利用(Recovery) | 循環再用(Recycling) |
| 1 或 4 | 85 | 80 |
| 2 | 80 | 70 |
| 5 或 6 | 75 | 55 |
| 3 | — | 80 |
Nanomaterials: The directive adds wording to enable the European Commission to assess whether Annex VII needs to be amended to address nanomaterials in electrical and electronic equipment.
Shipment of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment: The directive imposes stricter regulations on the shipment of undamaged electrical and electronic equipment to non-EU countries. To distinguish between electrical and electronic equipment and waste electrical and electronic equipment, when a holder claims that the equipment to be shipped is used electrical and electronic equipment rather than scrap electrical and electronic equipment, Member States must require the holder to provide the following proof: (a) copies of invoices and contracts indicating that the equipment is intended for direct reuse and is fully functional; (b) copies of assessment or testing records for each piece of equipment in the shipment, such as test certificates or proof of function; (c) a declaration from the person holding and arranging the shipment of the electrical and electronic equipment that there is no waste material or equipment in the shipment; and (d) adequate protection of the goods by sufficient packaging and proper stacking to prevent damage during transport, loading and unloading.
Manufacturer Registration: The revised directive simplifies the registration and reporting requirements for manufacturers of electrical and electronic equipment. However, after the directive comes into effect, manufacturers without a place of business in a Member State will still be required to appoint a representative in that country through written authorization.
The registration authorities of member states will provide links to the registration authorities of other member states on their websites so that manufacturers or authorized representatives can complete the registration process.
Transitioning the directive into national regulations: Eighteen months after the revised directive is published in the Official Journal of the European Union, all Member States must transpose the provisions of the directive into national regulations for implementation within their countries. The original WEEE Directive (Directive 2002/96/EC) will be repealed.
Sources: European Parliament (2012-01-19)
