Finalised WEEE guidance issued by BIS

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has published the finalised version of its guidance document for businesses seeking to comply with the recently revised WEEE regulations.

The guidance, which applies to producers of electronic goods, retailers, waste management firms, councils, producer compliance schemes and WEEE recyclers, outlines what businesses must do to meet their obligations under the new WEEE regulations, which came into effect on January 1.

Published yesterday (March 17), the document is a finalised version of provisional guidance published in November (see letsrecycle.com story).

Among the changes in the final version is confirmation that evidence trading between schemes via a Settlement Centre will not be possible under the new system.

Instead the guidance outlines that compliance schemes must sub-contract in advance for any external collection and treatment arrangements. The operator of the approved authorised treatment facility (AATF) treating the material will then be responsible for issuing the evidence directly to the PCS that will count the evidence towards their collection target.

The guidance also contains details of how distributors of electronic goods are required to meet their obligation to provide takeback facilities for small WEEE items of less than 25cm in length by offering free of charge in store takeback to consumers, or through the Distributor Take-back Scheme (DTS).

Code of practice

BIS has published a raft of documents relating to the new regulations in recent weeks, including proposed details of how collection targets for each category of WEEE will be calculated. The Department has proposed to set targets based on the growth or decline in tonnage of WEEE collected during the previous 12 months for each category of EEE (see letsrecycle.com story).

Compliance schemes are due to be informed of their collection targets for the 2014 period on March 31.

Elsewhere, it has also updated the code of practice for the collection of WEEE from designated collection facilities (DCFs) which sets out the obligations of local authorities and producer compliance schemes with regard to the collection arrangements for WEEE from DCFs.

Among the revisions to the code are details of local authorities obligations should they wish to opt out of the compliance system, and arrange the treatment of certain waste streams for which they are able to retain the value.

It also outlines the right for DCF operators to have their WEEE collected in the event that they are unable to reach an agreement with a compliance scheme to do so.