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Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive
Community policy on treatment of waste has five main objectives:
The European Parliament has consistently urged the Commission over the years, to press ahead with sustainable policies for waste prevention and recycling, and to underpin those policies with market and fiscal incentives. Parliament also advocated implementation of the polluter-pays principle and elimination of waste at source.
The WEEE Directive [ full title ] was adopted by the European Parliament and EU Ministers on 27 January 2003 and published in the Official Journal on 13 February 2003. The transposition of the Directive into national law must be completed by 13 August 2004. The Directive defines a stepped implementation schedule (see below).
The purpose of the Directive is chiefly to protect the soil, water and air against pollution, through better disposal of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). It also stimulates the reuse, recycling and other forms of recovery of such wastes so as to reduce the disposal of waste. The legislation applies to electrical and electronic equipment such as: household appliances; IT and telecommunications equipment; consumer equipment; lighting equipment; electrical and electronic tools; toys, leisure and sports equipment; medical devices; monitoring and control instruments; automatic dispensers. The Directive is a major piece of legislation whose implementation will impact substantially on industrial design, product distribution, and consumer decision. A clear example of this is the call, contained in the Directive, to ban design features which prevent products from being reused or recycled (eg. computer ink cartridges).
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European Parliament impact and debates The WEEE Directive, as initially proposed by the Commission in June 2000, was extensively amended by the European Parliament. Many of those amendments were taken on board by the Commission and accepted by the Council. In the main, the accepted amendments related to: definitions and scope of the Directive; financing; information requirements; quantified targets; collection systems; legacy or "historical" waste; treatment of WEEE; export of WEEE; penalties for failure to comply; reporting requirements. Lengthy negotiations involving Parliament, Commission and Council were necessary, culminating in a conciliation committee being convened in November 2002 to arrive at a compromise. The compromise package dealt with:
Source: Conciliation website: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/code/dossier/2002/2000_0158_waste_electrical/default_en.htm
The proposals were steered through Parliament by Karl-Heinz FLORENZ (EPP-ED, Ger). Below are excerpts of the parliamentary debate on 9 April 2002 and a link to the full transcript. Margot Wallström, Commission. – Let me briefly recall why we are tackling the specific problem of electrical and electronic waste. It is the fastest-growing part of the waste stream, indeed it is growing three times faster than the average. Each of us produces on average about 14 kgs per year of this waste and by the year 2010, when this directive is fully operational, electrical and electronic waste will account for over 8% of the entire municipal waste stream. Once adopted and implemented the directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment will allow us to divert this type of waste from landfills and incinerators to environmentally sound re-use and recycling. The directive on restricting hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment will prevent the presence of unnecessary hazardous substances, posing risks for human health and the environment in various stages of the life-cycle of such equipment, including its waste management. The work undertaken by the European Parliament substantially reinforces the original proposal, and I welcome the majority of the amendments tabled. In particular I support the strengthening of individual financing, as proposed by the Committee on the Environment, and limiting collective systems to those cases where these are necessary for practical reasons. This can help to internalise waste management costs into the product price and give incentives for a better design for re-use and recycling. It is a first step towards fuller integration of environmental considerations into product design and consumption patterns. Caroline Jackson, MEP (Conservative, South West). – Mr President, I fully support the idea behind this directive but there are certain tests to which we should submit the proposal and our amendments. Firstly, would existing successful arrangements for dealing with electronic waste be allowed to continue? I believe there is a danger that they would not. Parliament's amendments emphasise individual producer responsibility so that none can escape the net of the directive, but this means changing existing collective responsibility systems. The rapporteur has dealt with this by allowing for such collective responsibility agreements to continue for 10 years after the entry into force of the directive. That will create two systems in one EU and lead to distortions of competition. I look forward, with some trepidation, to the problems which we will encounter at conciliation on that one. Secondly, are we legislating with open eyes about the cost of what is proposed? No, we are not. The cost impact assessment in the original proposal is inevitably inadequate. The British Government has done a cost-impact assessment, learning from the fridges debacle. It has estimated a possible annual implementation cost for this directive at EUR 500 million, with a maximum save in landfill costs of approximately EUR 15 million a year. Do we have similar estimates from other countries? No, we do not. Will they legislate without counting the cost? Yes, in all probability they will. Chris Davies, MEP (Liberal Democrat, North West). – Mr President, travelling across the Union can sometimes seem like travelling in a time machine. Starting off in Britain, which still has a poor recycling record, the WEEE Directive looks like the future. But when you visit Denmark or the Netherlands where electrical and electronic waste is routinely collected, you see that the Commission directive is really only an attempt to harmonise and build on the best practice of the present. It is only those of us who still live in the past, Mr Bowe, who find it challenging and ambitious. It certainly will play a major part in waste-management policy and that is for the good. The Group of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party wants to encourage recycling, good product design, best-use resources and reduce pollution. We strongly support the principle of producer responsibility. I welcome his latest compromise proposal on paying for the costs of dealing with orphan waste. I do not believe that large legitimate manufacturers should have to pay the costs created by other companies, whether they be free-riders or small organisations. I am pleased that encouragement is now being given to re-use materials where environmentally appropriate, and I thank my colleagues across the House for the support they have given me in opposing the development of these so-called clever chips. David Bowe, MEP (Labour, Yorkshire & The Humber, 1999-2004) – When you consider the full implications, what the rapporteur has achieved has been quite phenomenal. This is the most extensive recycling scheme we have ever seen in Europe. Unfortunately, we live in an increasingly throw-away society where we produce more and more waste. What I am pleased to see with this proposal is that we are finally moving in the direction when the days when we can throw fridges, televisions, toasters, mobile phones and other electrical goods into a landfill are over. We all want to see a new era in which environmentally-friendly electric goods are fully recycled or reused. We all need to play our part in this as consumers and become habitual recyclers. But are these proposals going to help us? Furthermore, are Parliament's amendments going to make things better? In large part I can say ‘yes’, but not entirely. Too rigid an application of the principle of individual responsibility will cause major problems for small- and medium-sized enterprises across Europe and prevent sensible collective schemes being implemented. Enforced mandatory separation of electronic waste at each household, which could then, when non-compliance is found, be threatened with punishment is not a sensible way to encourage the cooperation of consumers nor is it, in every case, technically feasible. Do we really want to include consumable spare parts and sub-assemblies in this proposal even if they add contamination and enormous technical problems to the recycling process? Does not everyone realise that small firms throughout the European Union need some extra time and assistance to cope with their full responsibilities and do this job properly? All this leads me to think that we need a bit more time. After tomorrow's vote we should all pause for some thought about how we can make this directive fully environmentally friendly, cost-effective and attractive to the public. [ top ]
Transcription of the debate: [ top ]
Implementation is stepped over time. By 13 August 2005, separate collection systems must be in place to handle WEEE from private households. Governments have agreed to meet a collection target of 4 kilogrammes per household by 31 December 2006; as at the same date, a high rate of waste recovery must also be in place. Also by August 2005, producers must comply with new information requirements, such as for example:
By 31 December 2008 and after a technical review, new mandatory targets will be defined. Source: WEEE Directive
The DTI carried out a consultation on how to implement the Directive in UK legislation - link to consultation concluded 29 October 2004 . [ top ]
Council Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975 on waste lays down the basic principles in respect of waste collection, disposal, recycling and processing - link to the text. ELV - Directive 2000/53/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 18 September 2000 on End-of-Life Vehicles - link to the Commission website. [ top ]
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Full title of Directive / Decision, reference of publication in the Official Journal, link to the texts. Directive 2002/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 2003 on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) - on-line on the European Commission's website at http://europa.eu.int/ [ top ]
[ top ] (Online September 10th, 2004) | |||||||
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