Find out about the new responsibilities on businesses that produce waste under the WEEE Regulations
Summary
When businesses produce waste, they have a range of responsibilities. These include complying with the requirements of the duty of care, and if they're producing hazardous waste, they may need to register as a producer under the Hazardous Waste Regulations.
You can find out more about your duty of care and disposal of WEEE in England on the Business Link website:
You can find out more about your duty of care and disposal of WEEE in Wales on the Business Wales website:
The Waste Electrical and Electronic Regulations (WEEE Regulations) introduce new responsibilities for businesses and other non-household users of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE).
This includes businesses, schools, hospitals, and government agencies, when they dispose of their electrical waste. These organisations need to ensure that all separately collected WEEE is treated and recycled. Whether the business or the producer of the (EEE) pays for this depends on the circumstances.
You may no longer need to pay for the disposal of your WEEE
The factsheet above will help you decide if you'r responsible for the disposal of your electrical and electronic equipment, or if it's the responsibility of the equipment producer.
Business EEE from products put on the market after 13 August 2005
Manufacturers, retailers, branders and importers of EEE are responsible for financing the collection, treatment, recovery and disposal of the EEE that they supply to businesses.
The Directive allows producers and businesses to agree alternative financing arrangements.
This is a commercial decision and is likely to form part of the normal negotiating processes for supply contracts in the future.
Business EEE from products put on the market before 13 August 2005
Different arrangements apply for WEEE arising from products put on the market before 13 August 2005 (known as historic WEEE).
If historic WEEE from businesses is being replaced by new equivalent products, the EEE producer is responsible for financing the collection, treatment, recovery and disposal when supplying the new products.
In other cases, for example where the historic WEEE is not being replaced, the end user (the business) has to pay.
Reviewing duty of care and registration of waste carriers and waste brokers
Government issued new regulations on 29 March 2011, the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011. These introduce some new duty of care provisions and a new system for registration of waste carriers, brokers and waste dealers in England and Wales.
Changes to duty of care include signing a declaration that the waste hierarchy has been applied to any waste produced, but this does not come into effect until 28 September 2011. Government also plans to issue guidance on how to apply the waste hierarchy and publish a revised Duty of Care Code of Practice.
The regulations introduced a new registration system for carriers and brokers and a new term of waste dealer. The main change is that from the end of December 2013 waste producers carrying their own waste may need to register as a lower tier waste carrier. Further information on this can be found on our carriers and brokers pages and our Waste Regulations 2011 pages, or from our National Customer Contact Centre on 03708 506 506.
Contact
Telephone our National Customer Contact Centre on 03708 506 506.
