Legislation

WEEE and RoHS Directives

Companies producing electronic and electrical products which fall into one of ten broad product categories will have to comply with two EC directives if they want to continue to sell these products in European Union (EU) Member States:

  • The Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)
  • The Directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS)

The primary aim of the WEEE Directive and RoHS Directive is to reduce the impact of disposal of electrical and electronic equipment at end-of-life. The WEEE directive aims to reduce the amount of WEEE sent for disposal to landfill or incineration by requiring producers to arrange for collection and recycling. The RoHS directive restricts the use of certain heavy metals and brominated flame retardants to reduce the environmental impact of WEEE which is landfilled or incinerated.

There are ten product categories which are covered by the WEEE and RoHS directives, which are set out in Annex 1B of the WEEE directive. It is important to note that Annex 1B provides a ‘list of products which shall be taken into account' for each of the ten product categories. Annex 1B provides an indicative list of products within each of the ten categories. It is not an exhaustive list. There is therefore considerable discussion as to what is or is not included. However, if a product does not fall within these indicative lists, it is not captured under the WEEE and RoHS Directives.

We have developed a compliance tool which you can use to assess whether a product falls within the WEEE and RoHS directives.

The WEEE directive applies from August 2005 and requires producers to pay for the collection of their products at end of life and to meet targets for reuse, recycling and recovery of the components, materials and substances. The RoHS directive means that products containing more than the permitted levels of restricted substances can not be put on the market in EU member states after July 2006. These directives will increase costs for electronic and electrical manufacturing companies.

Batteries Directive

The EU adopted the first Batteries Directive in March 1991 (91/157/EC). This introduced restrictions on the use of mercury in most batteries and encouraged collection and recycling. However, the objectives of this first Batteries Directive were not achieved as most portable batteries were still sent to landfill (although some countries have efficient collection schemes in place). For example, in 2002 approximately 45.5% of the total amount of portable batteries sold in EU-15 (i.e. the 15 countries which were members of the EU at that time) went for final disposal to landfill or by incineration.

As a result, the EU introduced a new Batteries Directive 2006/66/EC which came into force in EU Member States from 26 September 2008 and replaced the previous Directive. Any batteries which are placed on the market from 26 September 2008 now need to comply with this new Batteries Directive.

The new Batteries Directive applies to all types of batteries regardless of their shape, volume, weight, material composition or use. The Directive also specifically includes batteries which are incorporated into electrical equipment, apart from batteries contained in military and space equipment.

The Directive defines three categories of battery, and places different requirements on battery producers in each category

  • Portable battery = battery or battery pack that is sealed, hand carried and not an industrial or automotive battery
  • Industrial battery = battery designed exclusively for industrial or professional uses
  • Automotive battery = battery used for automotive starter, lighting or ignition power

Packaging Directive

EC Directive 94/62/EC on Packaging and Packaging Waste came into force at the end of 1994 and aims to harmonise the management of packaging waste in EU Member States to reduce the life cycle environmental impacts. The Directive has the following specific objectives:

  • To increase the recovery and recycling of packaging waste in a consistent way in all EU Member States
  • To reduce the amount of packaging used and to encourage the reuse of packaging
  • To limit the concentration levels of certain heavy metals used in packaging products in order to reduce the environmental impact of packaging products which are landfilled or incinerated

The Directive sets mandatory recovery and recycling targets that Member States must achieve, the first of which were required to be met in 2001.

A revised Packaging Directive, 2004/12/EC, was published in 2004. The revised Directive further clarified the definition of packaging and sets new minimum recovery and recycling targets, as a percentage of all packaging waste arising from Member States, to be attained by 2008. The Directive allows each Member State to set programmes that go beyond the minimum recovery and recycling targets, providing these targets avoid introducing EC market distortions and also comply with the Directive’s requirements.

The deadline for Member States to transpose the requirements of the Directive into their national laws and regulations was 9 September 2006.

For further information, please contact Aidan Turnbull
Head of WEEE, RoHS & EcoDesign on +44 (0)1225 748420