WEEE Directive

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) 2002/96/EC adopted by the European Union (EU) in 2003 along with RoHS requires producers to provide recovery and recycling programs for the processing of waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE).

WEEE overview

The WEEE Directive, which went into effect on August 13, 2005, is meant to prevent Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment from being introduced to the municipal/household waste stream. The WEEE Directive places the responsibility for disposal and recycling of WEEE on its producer.

WEEE challenges

One of the main challenges that electronic manufacturers are facing in complying with the WEEE Directive is to have a complete and current understanding of the requirements which are handled on a country-by-country basis.

  • Registration: Registration requirements vary state by state, which imposes a challenge for producers who are required to register in appropriate member states and provide information on sales within those countries.
  • Reporting: The WEEE Directive requires manufactures to generate reports that identify component and material substance information as well as location of dangerous substances in EEE within one year after the product is put on the market. In addition, produces must generate annual estimates of the quantities (or weight) per category of EEE put on the market, collected through all routes, reused, recycled and recovered.
  • Labeling: The WEEE Directive requires that all products put on the market after August 13, 2005 are labeled with the the company name or identifier, date of manufacture, and Do Not Landfill crossed-out wheeled bin symbol.

Affected product categories

The directive applies to the Electronic and Electrical Equipment falling under the following 10 categories:

  • Large household appliances
  • Small household appliances
  • IT & telecommunications equipment
  • Consumer equipment
  • Lighting equipment (except filament light bulbs & household luminaires)
  • Electrical and electronic tools (except large stationary industrial tools)
  • Certain toys, leisure and sports equipment
  • Medical devices (except where implanted or contaminated)
  • Monitoring and control instruments
  • Automatic dispensers

How can EMARS help?

With a complete set of functionality for analyzing and tracking material content and compliance at the substance, material, part, and product levels, EMARS enables you to integrate RoHS, China RoHS, WEEE, and ELV compliance information into your entire product life cycle.

Moreover, EMARS WEEE Software enables manufacturers to produce various weight and sales reports for recyclers and importers for the individual countries in the EU member states.

Have questions or want more information?