Manufacturers

Envirowise have released official DTI information for manufacturers - see the 'Guide' link to the right.

Under the WEEE Directive manufacturers (or importers) are required to finance the treatment and recovery of discarded electrical and electronic goods, from a central collection point.

How this will work in practice has not been determined; see 'costs' below for more details and the news pages for the latest.

Latest Government thinking is that producers will be will be responsible for costs from a central collection point, either in relation to their own products or by joining a compliance organisation. They would also be responsible for the costs of a National Clearing House.

There are also design implications for electrical and electronic appliances - follow the links on the right for further info.

Definition of a producer

A producer is someone who manufactures and sells under their own brand, resells under their own brand or imports goods into the EU. A producer may also be an exporter, if exporting into another EU country.

Only whole products are covered - if importing a part of another product or a component, then the WEEE Directive does not cover this.

Requirements

• To pay your share of treatment and recycling costs for separately collected WEEE, from 13th August 2005
• To supply data on the amount and type of goods you have placed on the UK market (and exported to EU countries), and on what has been recycled either by you or on your behalf (first data report should be provided between January and August 2005)
• To register with one of the Environmental Agencies by the 13th of August 2005 (registry is expected to be available from January 2005). It will be an offence not to register.
• Ensure that your products (wherever possible) have been designed to enable reuse and recycling (see product design)
• Mark products with correct labels and symbols
• To supply information on the reuse and treatments of your products that you sell in the future.

The directive more specifically requires that equipment that falls under the directive be marked clearly with a symbol of a crossed out wheely bin, and to contribute information to assist in the recycling of your products.

Costs

The date that producers become liable for the costs of WEEE disposal is the 13th August 2005.

The disposal of products put on the market after this date are to be financed by the producer, either individually or as a private collective.

For products put on the market before this date producers are required to finance their disposal proportionately, that is by market share. How market share will be calculated, we do not yet know.

Each producer will be required to provide financial guarantees for products placed on the market after 13 August 2005. There is considerable concern from large and small producers that these kinds of guarantees will be expensive if indeed a supplier of the policy can be found.

The supply of information about the nature of the product to treatment facilities could provide extra costs, although a web solution seems likely.

Export

If you export into other member states national markets, you must check that they have interpreted the text of the directive in a similar way, The DTI plans to publish information on it's website for this purpose.

Collection

Producers may also have responsibilities for business-to-business WEEE, if supplying direct. See the B2B section for further info.

What can I do now?

• Assess your product design
• Assign someone to keep up to date on WEEE news (join the network and receive e-mail updates!)
• If you live in the Southwest arrange a visit from our advisers
• Note the important dates of 13th Aug 2004 when WEEE will become law in the UK, and of 13th Aug 2005 when producers take responsibility

And to bear in mind:

• Ask current insurers about possible costs of financial guarantees
• Make sure that you record appropriate data about your product
• Think about the best way to mark your product with appropriate symbols