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The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive was created to reduce pollution from electrical and electronic equipment in the European Community. The WEEE will impact manufacturing, distributing, selling, recycling, and treating of electrical or electronic equipment. Regulations to implement the WEEE are expected in mid-2005.
Electrical or electronic equipment included in this directive: household appliances, medical devices, automatic dispensers, IT or telecommunication equipment, electrical or electronic tools, and audiovisual or lighting equipment.
Under WEEE, manufacturers, distributors, and sellers of electrical or electronic equipment will be liable for the following activities by January 1, 2006:
- Financing the collection, treatment, recovery, and disposal of electronic or electrical equipment waste for products sold after January 1, 2006.
- Financing the management of WEEE for products sold prior to January 1, 2006. It may be possible to recover the costs.
Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS)
The Restriction of Hazardous Substances directive was created to limit including specific hazardous materials in new equipment in the European Community and is expected to be implemented in late 2005. This directive impacts the manufacturing, distributing, and selling of electrical or electronic equipment that contains lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls or polybrominated diphenyl ethers. The equipment impacted by this directive is similar to that of the WEEE.
Under the RoHS, new electrical or electronic equipment must not contain any of the aforementioned hazardous chemicals, by January 1, 2006. Few products are exempt from the RoHS directive and will be reevaluated every four years.
May 6, 2008 - Webinar on EU Standards and Environmental Regulations
April 18, 2008 - U.S. Mission to the EU WEEE/RoHS Update
April 1, 2008 - Presentation on RoHS Directive Update by Department of Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform of the United Kingdom.
February 5, 2008 - U.S. Mission to the EU WEEE/RoHS Update
Request for U.S. companies to submit input by April 1st.
January 7, 2008 - U.S. Mission to the EU WEEE/RoHS Update
September 12, 2007 - Update on the EuP and RoHS Directives Conference in Washington, D.C.
August 1, 2007 - U.S. Mission to the EU WEEE/RoHS Update
March 30, 2007 - U.S. Mission to the EU WEEE/RoHS Update
December 2006 - Official EU Exemption Request Support For Lead In Solders - Your Input is Needed.
June 2006 - This update summarizes the information from a number of sources, including a meeting with the European Commission on WEEE and RoHS (June 15th) and information from US companies and other US DOC posts in Europe.
For more information on WEEE and ROHS:
WEEE/RoHS - China and EU Comparison
U.S. Commercial Service WEEE and RoHS in the EU
European Commission - Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment
Source: United Kingdom Environment Agency: NetRegs: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/netregs/
(Last Modified: April 17, 2008; Next Update Date: Available Upon Request)
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