Waste Electrical Recycling Compliance Scheme Service

Membership:

The Scheme membership includes a large variety of companies, large and small, based in the UK and internationally, placing both Household and Non-Household EEE on the market.

WERCS is open to, and welcomes new members on competitive compliance rates.

Integrated Solution:

WERCS is part of the Electrical Waste Recycling Group (EWRG), one of the largest, most advanced and comprehensive WEEE and Lamp recyclers in the UK, with the ability to offer a complete in-house WEEE collection and treatment service for its members and their customers, wherever they are.

We understand that the WEEE Regulations and WEEE Producer compliance is not our Members’ core business and that it can often be difficult to understand and to deal with in your busy business schedule. That is why we offer an informative, personalised service to our Members and endeavour to make WEEE compliance as easy as possible with direct access to dedicated Member administration personnel.

WERCS seeks to minimise both the regulatory and financial burden on its Members.

Scaled Membership fees mean WERCS offers a competitive compliance solution to Small and Medium Enterprises as well as Large Corporates. As part of the Electrical Waste Recycling Group (EWRG), one of the largest, most advanced and comprehensive WEEE and Lamp recyclers in the UK, WERCS has the ability to address its Members’ obligations by arranging the collection and treatment of relevant WEEE, (both Household and Non Household), within the Group’s own Recycling operations located throughout the UK.

This keeps the cost of meeting our Members’ obligations to a minimum, thereby keeping your overall costs low.

Ten years after the Council of the European Union introduced the original WEEE Directive 2002/96/EC, it has published a Recast Directive, 2012/19/EU, on 24 July 2012. The Recast is required to be introduced into UK Regulation by 14 Feb 2014 but in any case is expected to be introduced in time for the start of the 2014 Compliance Period (01 Jan 2014).

The Recast affects many areas of the original WEEE Directive including but not limited to: collection and recovery targets; scope and categorisation of WEEE; Distributor take-back provisions; Proper Treatment

Collection Targets:

The Recast significantly increases separate WEEE collection targets from 4kgs per capita today to a minimum of 45% of the total average weight of EEE placed on the market in each of the three preceding years by 2016, and to evolve from there to 2019 where the UK must achieve a minimum 65% of the average weight of EEE placed on the market in the three preceding years, or alternatively 85% of the WEEE generated in the UK. In order to compare with existing targets the UK must therefore collect the equivalent of approximately 20kgs by 2019.

Recycling & Recovery Targets:
Recovery & Recycling targets (the percentage of material recovered from a tonne of WEEE received from treatment) shall remain as they are from Aug 2012 through August 2015. Thereafter, the Recovery & Recycling target rates are raised by 5% for all categories of WEEE other than Gas Discharge Lamps, the target for which will remain as 80%. From 2019, the Recovery and Recycling targets will apply to the six new categories described below.

Scope and categorisation:

Following a six year transition period, from 15 Aug 2018, the current ten categories of WEEE will be condensed to six and an open scope implemented with extra appliances added at this stage including LEDs and Photovoltaic panels.

Distributor take-back provisions:

Distributor take-back provisions are extended for Distributors with EEE sales areas of =/>400m2 who will be required to take back very small WEEE (no external dimension >25cm) from users without an obligation to purchase EEE of an equivalent type.

Definition of Household WEEE:

Extended to include Waste from EEE likely to be used by both private households and users other than private households which, in any event, shall be regarded as Household WEEE.

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive) was introduced into UK law in January 2007 by the Waste Electrical and Electronic (WEEE) Regulations 2006. The aim of the WEEE Directive is to divert WEEE from landfill by encouraging the separate collection and reuse, recycling, recovery and environmentally sound disposal of the waste. The WEEE Directive is one of a number of European directives that employ the principle of “Producer responsibility”. Under this principle, Producers are required to take financial responsibility for the environmental impact of the products they place on the market. If you manufacture, brand, re-brand and/or import electrical equipment in, or into the UK then it is likely you will have producer obligations under the WEEE Regulations.

The WEEE Directive also aims to improve the environmental performance of other stakeholders involved in the EEE lifecycle. Therefore, although the practice of “polluter pays” places the financial responsibility of collecting and treating waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) on the Producer, there are also implications for Distributors and Users of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) as well as treatment facility operators in the waste management industry and Producer Compliance Schemes.

Producer Obligations

A ‘producer’ means anyone who, irrespective of selling technique used, including by means of distance communication:

• Manufactures and sells electrical and electronic equipment under his own brand;
• Resells under his own brand equipment produced by other suppliers, a reseller not being regarded as the ‘producer’ if the brand of the producer appears on the equipment, as provided for in (a); or
• Imports or exports electrical and electronic equipment on a professional basis into a member State.

If you meet any of the above descriptions then you are regarded as an EEE producer and have various obligations under Part 3 of the WEEE Regulations.

Distributor Obligations

It is possible to be both a producer and a distributor with obligations as both under the provisions of the WEEE Directive. A distributor is any person who provides electrical and electronic equipment on a commercial basis to the party who is going to use it. Therefore if you are a retailer or wholesaler, irrespective of selling technique, you may have various distributor obligations to meet under Part 5 of the WEEE Regulations.

What are the differences between Household and Non-Household Obligations?

Common to a number of other pieces of current legislation, including The End of Life Vehicle Directive, The Waste Packaging Directive and Waste Batteries and Accumulators Directive, The WEEE Directive operates on the ‘Producer Pays’ principle.

Producers placing relevant Electrical & Electronic Equipment (EEE) on the market assume a legal responsibility to pay for the cost of collection and treatment of WEEE under different circumstances depending on whether that WEEE is classified as Household or Non-Household.

Household users do not assume any responsibility for the costs of collection and treatment of WEEE.

Household WEEE:

Household WEEE is “WEEE which comes from private households and from commercial, industrial, institutional and other sources which, because of its nature and quantity, is similar to that from private households.”

Producers, placing Household EEE on the market, are responsible for financing the costs of collection and treatment of an amount of WEEE (in tonnes) arising in a specific category, equivalent to their market share in that same category of EEE.

Non-Household WEEE:

Non-Household WEEE is “WEEE from users other than private households.”

In this case, Producer responsibility is not ‘market-share’ based but makes the Producer directly responsible for the cost of collection and treatment of WEEE for which they become obligated as a result of:

a) A user discarding Non-Household EEE placed on the market on, or after 13th Aug 2005 by that Producer or,
b) WEEE arising from EEE placed on the market before 13th Aug 2005 where that Producer is supplying new EEE that –

i. is intended to replace the relevant WEEE or,
ii. is of an equivalent type, or fulfils the same function, as that of the relevant WEEE.