As a business you will be affected by the WEEE Directive and will need to ensure you have the correct systems in place to deal with electrical equipment that your business owns. Click here to view the equipment that is covered by the WEEE Directive.
The Financing of Business WEEE
The WEEE Regulations place obligations on producers selling to business customers, and on business end-users, to take responsibility for the costs of collection, treatment, recovery and environmentally sound disposal of WEEE. The responsibility is to report evidence showing treatment of WEEE at authorised treatment facilities (ATFs), and also evidence to show this WEEE has been recovered and reused/recycled according to the WEEE Directive’s recovery and recycling/reuse targets for the relevant product category or categories.
The WEEE Regulations require that a producer who supplies new equipment to a business user to replace original equipment purchased before 13 August 2005 must finance the costs of treatment, recovery and sound disposal of the replaced equipment (whether or not they supplied this original equipment).
If the business user is NOT making a like-for-like replacement purchase then the business user is responsible for financing collection, treatment, recovery and environmentally responsible end disposal of any equipment they discard if they bought the equipment prior to 13 August 2005.
- Eg. If you purchase, 100 new PCs, the seller will have the responsibility for collecting, treating and recycling up to 100 old PCs from your business if requested (Whether or not the seller supplied this original equipment). If you are not replacing old equipment then your business becomes responsible for disposal costs, and for reporting evidence of treatment.
For waste resulting from new products sold after 13 August 2005, the WEEE Regulations provide for there to be an obligation on the producer. But, the producer and the business user can freely negotiate to reach agreement on how to allocate the responsibility for the financing of collection, treatment, recovery and environmentally sound disposal of the “future” WEEE.
The WEEE Regulations set a framework in which the allocation of responsibility for WEEE end-of-life management can become a factor in commercial transactions during the sale of electrical and electronic equipment in the future.
Therefore:
- Purchase and disposal needs to be coordinated throughout your organisation
- Contracts with suppliers need to be negotiated with WEEE in mind - you may not purchase and dispose of goods at the same time, but will still want them taken away
- A business user should incur a minimum amount of disposal costs if coordinated properly.
Q. I buy office equipment for my business. What responsibilities will my company have for WEEE after August 2005?
A. For waste from equipment you purchased before 13 August 2005, your company must take responsibility for financing its collection, treatment, recovery and reuse/recycling (to the Directive’s targets percentages); unless you are buying replacement products, in which case the producer supplying to you will have these responsibilities.
For equipment you buy after 13 August 2005, your supplier will have to take responsibility for financing its collection, treatment, recovery and reuse/recycling (to the Directive’s targets percentages), unless you and your supplier negotiate alternative arrangements. This is a commercial matter for you.
Business Obligations for reporting evidence of WEEE treatment
WEEE from products sold to business users
Where a business has the responsibility for their WEEE end-of-life management (as outlined above) they have an obligation to report evidence to show its collection, treatment at authorised treatment facilities, and recovery or reuse to the WEEE Directive’s target percentages.
The data to be reported should cover the weight of the equipment, according to the Directive’s product categories. The Government is considering whether to require this data to be reported on an annual basis, by 31 January (covering the previous calendar year), to the National Clearing House (NCH). In this context, the NCH will act as a “one stop shop” for all data reporting on WEEE.