BIS moves to end dual use WEEE confusion

The definition of household and non household WEEE in the UK is set to be amended by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS).

BIS has today (June 17) put forward proposals to address a difference in its interpretation of WEEE from private households compared to the definition held by the European Commission.This follows some confusion caused by the Commission over whether some items, such as desktop PCs, should be classed as B2B (business to business) or B2C (business to consumer) WEEE.

In April this year the European Commission published an FAQ document covering its interpretation of the revised WEEE Directive which the UK passed into law in late 2013 through the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013 (see letsrecycle.com story).

In the document, the Commission explained that WEEE from private households refers exactly to: electronic equipment which due to its nature can be assumed to be used by both private households (professional users). Such equipment should be registered and reported as household equipment and its waste should be considered WEEE from private households.

Quantity

The FAQ definition caused surprise in the UK and prompted BIS to revisit its definitions. The UK current BIS guidelines state that WEEE should be considered as being from a household source, if it is similar in nature and crucially of a similar quantity to that produced by households (see letsrecycle.com story).

The Commission has told letsrecycle.com that its definition was deliberately used to address difficulties in the classification of EEE likely to be used by both private households and users other than private households, and the need to eliminate the risk of jeopardising the financing for collection and treatment of WEEE from private households.

Today BIS has stated that it will be amending statutory guidance to place the onus on producers to determine whether an item is dual use based on its product design, intended use and whether it is likely to arise as waste from households. This is likely to come into effect from January 2015.

According to the Department, this will see all new electronic goods classed as B2C unless the producer can provide evidence that due to its nature and design it is not intended for use in private households and is unlikely to appear as household waste.

As an example in its explanatory document, BIS states: A vacuum cleaner could be classified as B2B only if it was clearly designed for non household applications. This might for example be based on power rating, filtration elements, hose/nozzle design etc.

A producer might additionally argue that the distribution channel was such that it was unlikely to be purchased by a householder and therefore unlikely to arise as household WEEE.

Costs

This is likely to mean that producers who are currently placing new products onto the market classed as business EEE, but whose products could be deemed as dual use would have to classify these products as B2C.

The Department also suggests that this could be good news for operators of designated collection facilities (DCFs) and local authorities collecting business WEEE, as they would be able to allow a greater proportion of these to be financed by producers.

But, for some producers this is likely to result in greater costs for compliance with the WEEE Regulations, as they will be required to finance a greater proportion of the costs associated with meeting the household WEEE targets.

The Department is also proposing to develop additional guidelines to help collection sites appropriately classify WEEE from businesses and household, and has asked for views on its proposals to be submitted by July 11.