We deal with a large number of government websites in the day-to-day business of product conformity assessments. In our opinion, the British government's website www.gov.uk is one of the well-maintained and clear websites. Many useful guidelines can be found here.
On July 6th 2023, the guideline on extended producer responsibility for electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) received an update. New is the reference to another guideline entitled "Report the amount of EEE you place on the market", which describes when to report the amount of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) that has been placed on the UK market and how to do so.
Electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) on the UK market, like elsewhere, is subject to regulations covering different stages of a product. Extended producer responsibility is about ensuring that the companies that manufacture, import and sell these products are responsible for the environmental impacts at the end of their life. This is to ensure that waste products are treated and that targets for recovery and recycling of waste materials are met. This requires, for example, registration and volume reporting of EEE placed on the market.
Compliance with the WEEE regulations in the UK requires, among other things, local registration of the producer (or other economic operators), which depends on how much EEE was placed on the UK market in the previous calendar year (also called compliance year).
- If you place less than 5 tons of EEE on the UK market in a compliance year, you can register as a "small EEE producer" directly with the Environment Agency.
- If you bring more than 5 tons of EEE to market, you must join a Producer Compliance Scheme (PCS). The PCS takes over your obligations to fund the collection, treatment, recovery and environmentally sound disposal of household WEEE collected in the UK.
You will also have to assume distributor responsibilities if you sell WEEE directly to households in the UK.
In addition, the obligations for labeling (crossed-out dustbin with date) are indicated and what information must be provided for the reuse and environmentally sound treatment of the products and components.
If you have any questions about this or are unclear about anything, please do not hesitate to contact us!
