WEEE and the confusion surrounding whether we fall into the scope of the directive!

[Manix]

Hi All,

I have been in charge of our EU compliance to various regs for a few years now and I am back trying to figure out whether we have any obligations under the WEEE directive.

About 3 years ago, I contacted the DTi and asked whether we would have any obligations under the WEEE directive. We supply loudspeakers and other audio peripherals to a wide range of industries (mainly automotive but that is another bag of fish, that I am fully conversant with).

Regarding all our other industries, WEEE would probably apply, BUT we mainly supply product that is a component of a bigger piece of equipment and is assembled into that product at our customers. Therefore that part does not fall into WEEE because we do not supply it to the end user, the customer supplies the bigger piece of equipment and this must be part of the WEEE regs.

However in some instances we do supply these loudspeakers to companies that sell them as simply loudspeakers that consumers can buy. Now they are distributors and have obligations to take the product back, but where on earth do we fit in on this? Are we simply subject to a commercial agreement to help the distributor take back the WEEE OR do we have a legal obligation? This has really frustrated me this morning, as it is nearly 1st July and for the last 3 years I have been stating we do not fall under the scope of WEEE because we supply nothing to the end user!!!! I repeat we do not supply directly to the public.

Help, anyone who knows the answer to this as the DTi just keep referring me to their guidance notes which don't help!

 

[tyker]

Re: WEEE and the confusion surrounding whether we fall into the scope of the directiv

So, I'm not the only one in the asylum.

My employer doesn't make anything remotely electrical so the interest here has been mainly concerning how we get rid of the WEEE that is generated as part of the business. Hence I'm not an expert on your problem.

My humble opinion is, however, that as a producer of what will eventually become WEEE, you should be a member of a compliance scheme and should have registered with the scheme in March. For advice, I would recommend talking to the Environment Agency who will be enforcing the rules rather than the DTi who are specialists in pushing paper and binding it in red tape.
You may also want to get advice from the organisers of a compliance scheme and may find that your existing waste contractor is clued up.

I've got a presentation from our local EA guy that I can send you if necessary (PM me with your e-mail address if you want it, I can't post it here for copyright reasons). The general feeling at the seminar where this was presented was that the rules are, in part, being made up as we go due to the large number of different scenarios which could exist and which can't all be listed in guidance documents.

 

[tyker]

Re: WEEE and the confusion surrounding whether we fall into the scope of the directiv

Further to my earlier reply, this is taken from the Netregs site.

"Register as a producer

If you are an EEE producer you must join a producer compliance scheme and be registered with your environmental regulator by 15 March 2007. When you join a producer compliance scheme, they will register for you. You cannot register directly with your environmental regulator.
You will be given a producer registration number. You must give this number to your distributors when you sell EEE."

 

[M Greenaway]

Re: WEEE and the confusion surrounding whether we fall into the scope of the directiv

Yes your loud speakers are WEEE and you are a producer so you MUST register with a compliance scheme - this will require you to pay a levvy based on the amount of WEEE you put onto the market in 2006 based on weight (kgs), so have this information also to hand.

Your obligations for business to business (B2B) transactions are slightly different than those for business to consumers (public - B2C) in that you can get your business users to carry the cost of WEEE if you negotiate that and write it into your contract.

Bear in mind also that as they are WEEE they are also subject to RoHS (apart from a couple of exempt categories which wont include hi-fi equipment).

Added - sorry I am assuming that you make complete stand alone speakers, however if you just nmake part of a speaker (the cone) that then goes into someone elses product then they are liable for WEEE - you are just a component manufacturer.

 

[ScottK]

Re: WEEE and the confusion surrounding whether we fall into the scope of the directiv

My humble opinion is, however, that as a producer of what will eventually become WEEE, you should be a member of a compliance scheme ...

Which is why we need to be RoHS compliant to sell to some companies. We're in the same boat - we make nothing electrical but our parts are used in WEEE/RoHS devices.

 

[Manix]

Re: WEEE and the confusion surrounding whether we fall into the scope of the directiv

Yes your loud speakers are WEEE and you are a producer so you MUST register with a compliance scheme - this will require you to pay a levvy based on the amount of WEEE you put onto the market in 2006 based on weight (kgs), so have this information also to hand.

Your obligations for business to business (B2B) transactions are slightly different than those for business to consumers (public - B2C) in that you can get your business users to carry the cost of WEEE if you negotiate that and write it into your contract.

Bear in mind also that as they are WEEE they are also subject to RoHS (apart from a couple of exempt categories which wont include hi-fi equipment).

Added - sorry I am assuming that you make complete stand alone speakers, however if you just nmake part of a speaker (the cone) that then goes into someone elses product then they are liable for WEEE - you are just a component manufacturer.

Thanks guys, I have since almost formed the companies policy and if you refer to the environment agency then they give clear definitions! I went to this page and got this definition:

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/1745440/444663/1106248/1622041/1657911/1661081/1657922/1661085/1657924/1657956/1657978/1657983/1658277/

The EC defines finished products as:

"A finished product......is any device, or unit of equipment that has a direct function, its own enclosure and - if applicable - ports and connections intended for end users.”
(3.8) ’Direct function’ is defined as any function of a component or a finished product which fulfils the intended use specified by the manufacturer in the instructions for use for an end-user. This function can be available without further adjustment or connections other than simple ones which can be performed by any person not fully aware of the EMC implications.”

M Greenaway: We manufacture the drive unit's that go into other pieces of equipment and even those parts we supply to distributors could not be simply connected up by anyone. They need to be correctly connected and mounted before working properly, so it is my view that none of our loudspeakers are finished parts supplied to the end user.

There maybe on product that we sell that can be classed as finished product, but I will need to review that separately. Anyway, RoHS is something we are fully conversant with, we have been dealing with the EU material regs for a few years now, because a lot of our stuff is Automotive, ELV has been something we need to comply with as well!!!

Now what about REACH....... that's another thing that I thought, "na we don't need to do anything about this", but many agencies are saying we do, so I need to spend another 20 days trying to figure that out!!!!!

Oh I love the EU!

 

[Mr Niceguy]

Re: WEEE and the confusion surrounding whether we fall into the scope of the directiv

Now what about REACH....... that's another thing that I though, "na we don't need to do anything about this, but many agencies are saying we do, so I need to spend another 20 days trying to figure that out!!!!!

The UK competent authority for REACH (Health and Safety Executive) has recently started its information web pages and helpdesk at http://www.hse.gov.uk/reach/index.htm

DEFRA pages will link to these so don't bother with DEFRA. They have delegated to HSE.

 

[Manix]

Re: WEEE and the confusion surrounding whether we fall into the scope of the directiv

The UK competent authority for REACH (Health and Safety Executive) has recently started its information web pages and helpdesk at http://www.hse.gov.uk/reach/index.htm

DEFRA pages will link to these so don't bother with DEFRA. They have delegated to HSE.

Thanks, before I read this I had a quick search on the net and came up with the HSE, I have also added this to the definitions forum with a link to their website.

 

[Watchwait]

Re: WEEE and the confusion surrounding whether we fall into the scope of the directiv

We manufacture an electronic product sold directly to end users in the EU. To date, I see no directive that covers our product line. Taking that at face value (not being subject to any published directive) do we still need to comply to WEEE requirements?

 

[Manix]

Re: WEEE and the confusion surrounding whether we fall into the scope of the directiv

We manufacture an electronic product sold directly to end users in the EU. To date, I see no directive that covers our product line. Taking that at face value (not being subject to any published directive) do we still need to comply to WEEE requirements?

It would depend entirely on what it is you sell to the end user. When you say that you see no directive that covers your product line, does this mean you have checked the scope of the directive and the relative exemptions?

If you can genuinely say that the directive does not apply, then you will not be required to comply, but I would take legal advice if there is any doubt about its applicability at all.

You must also consider other directives such as RoHS and REACH, the scopes of which are changing and will continue to change so make sure you keep up to speed with these as well.

That said, there is the issue of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility). You may not need to comply, but an ethically aware organisation, may look to follow suit, in order that you take responsibility of your products at their end of life. Your environmental commitments may mean you need to be aware of this, and this of course is beyond the scope of legal compliance and into the realms of corporate responsibility. The worlds view on waste and the responsibility of those who create it is changing and organisations must change with it to remain competitive.