Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment ("WEEE") Directive 2002/96/EC

Based on

Art. 175 (i.e. EU Treaty basis for environmental laws)
Producer Responsibility (i.e. financial responsibility for take-back)
Includes specific Recovery Targets
The WEE directive only sets minimum requirements being under Art 175. See individual country requirements for differences which are in some cases quite significant.

For 'producers' (i.e. manufacturers, companies selling bought in products under there own brand name & importers):

Financial responsibility for:
- transport from collection facilities
- treatment, recovery, disposal
- collection from customer required when selling business to business. (alternative arrangements can be made with customer)
Producer financial responsibility comes into effect from 13 August 2005.
For new products: collective or individual take-back systems are to be permitted
For "historic" business to consumer products: collective systems only to be permitted Distributors/retailers:
For "historic" business to business products producers only responsible for take back of similar products, otherwise the user is responsible. ( See Directive 2003/108/EC )
Documentation for end-of-life treatment is required.
Requirement for separate collection of WEEE from private households: = 4 kg/inhabitant/year. by the end of 2006

EEE Item	Total % Recovery	Total % Re-use & Recycling
Large household appliances	80	75
Small household appliances	70	50
IT and telecommunications equipment	75	65
Consumer equipment	75	65
Lighting equipment	70	50
Electrical and electronic tools (with the exception of large-scale stationary industrial tools)	70	50
Toys, leisure and sports equipment	70	50
Medical devices (with the exception of all implanted and infected products)	No target	No target
Monitoring and control instruments	70	50
Automatic dispensers	80	75
Gas discharge lamps		80

The following have to be removed from separately collected waste:

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) containing capacitors
Mercury containing components
Batteries
Printed circuit boards of mobile phones generally, and of other devices if the surface of the printed circuit board is greater than 10 square centimetres
Toner cartridges, liquid and pasty, as well as colour toner
Plastic containing brominated flame retardants
Asbestos waste and components which contain asbestos
Cathode ray tubes
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC) or hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), hydrocarbons (HC)
Gas discharge lamps
Liquid crystal displays (together with their casing where appropriate) of a surface greater than 100 square centimetres and all those back-lighted with gas discharge lamps
External electric cables
Components containing refractory ceramic fibres
Components containing radioactive substances with the exception of components that are below the exemption thresholds
Electrolyte capacitors containing substances of concern (height > 25 mm, diameter > 25 mm or proportionately similar volume)