Directive 2012/19 / EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment

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Directive 2012/19 / EU

Title: Directive 2012/19 / EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of July 4, 2012 on waste electrical and electronic equipment
Designation:
(not official) 		WEEE directive
Legal matter: Environmental law , chemicals law
Basis: Article 192 (1) TFEU
Procedure overview: European Commission
European Parliament
IPEX Wiki
Come into effect: August 13, 2012
To be
implemented in national law by: 		February 14, 2014
Reference: OJ L 197 of 24.7.2012, pp. 38-71
Full text Consolidated version (not official)
basic version
The regulation must have been implemented in national law.
Please note the information on the current version of legal acts of the European Union !

The WEEE Directive 2012/19 / EU (from English : W aste of E lectrical and E lectronic E quipment ; German: Elektro- und Elektronikgeräte-Abfall ) serves to avoid waste from electrical and electronic equipment and to reduce such waste Reuse, recycling and other forms of recovery. It lays down minimum standards for the treatment of waste electrical and electronic equipment in the EU in order to contribute to sustainable development in the long term.

background

Waste electrical and electronic equipment is one of the largest growing proportions of waste in the EU. In 2005, the amount was around 9 million tons ; by 2020 the EU Commission expects an increase to more than 12 million tons. Electronic scrap consists of a wide variety of materials and components, the hazardous ingredients of which can lead to particular environmental and health risks. In addition, the manufacture of such devices requires rare and expensive raw materials.

In response to this problem, the EU Commission issued two directives in 2002 and 2003: the WEEE directive and the RoHS directive . While the RoHS directive aims to reduce the use of dangerous substances in products, the WEEE directive created a legal framework for collecting used electrical and electronic equipment from consumers, the proportion of these devices in household waste to reduce and to collect raw materials professionally and to recycle them.

The directive

The guideline applies to all privately and commercially used electrical and electronic equipment with the exception of equipment intended for military purposes and light bulbs . Further exceptions are formulated due to changed definitions of the scope of the directive, which came into effect after a transition period in 2018.

The separate collection of waste electrical and electronic equipment is necessary in order to achieve the level of health and environmental protection in the Union aimed at by the EU Commission through specific treatment and specific recycling of electronic waste . Consumers should actively contribute to the collection and receive incentives to return old electrical and electronic equipment. To this end, take-back facilities are being set up where the relevant waste from private households can be handed in at least free of charge.

Member states of the Union are to be urged by prescribed collection quotas to take suitable measures to keep the proportion of electronic scrap in unsorted municipal waste as low as possible. From the data of an impact assessment carried out by the EU Commission in 2008, it emerged that at that time 65% of the waste electrical and electronic equipment placed on the market were collected separately, but more than half of them were not properly treated or illegally exported. The WEEE directive is also intended to ensure that non-functioning electrical and electronic equipment is not brought to developing countries .

The new version of the WEEE directive repeals the previous directive 2002/96 / EG, as well as the directive 2003/108 / EG and 2008/34 / EG with effect from February 15, 2014. The categories and device lists mentioned in the previous directive remain in force until the end of a transition period on August 14, 2018.

With effect from 2018, the WEEE Directive will introduce an open area of ​​application covering all electrical and electronic equipment, comprising the following six categories:

  1. Heat exchanger
  2. Screens, monitors and devices containing screens with a surface area of ​​more than 100 cm²
  3. Lamps
  4. Large devices where at least one of the external dimensions is more than 50 cm
  5. Small devices with none of the external dimensions exceeding 50 cm
  6. Small IT and telecommunications equipment, where none of the external dimensions is more than 50 cm

history

Germany

This article or paragraph presents the situation in Germany . Help us to describe the situation in other countries.

The first edition of the WEEE Directive (2002/96 / EC) came into force in January 2003. By August 13, 2004, the EU member states should have implemented the directive in national laws and established a national take-back system. From December 2006 at least 4 kg of electronic waste per inhabitant and year should be recycled.

In Germany, the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (ElektroG) came into force on March 16, 2005. In addition to the WEEE directive, it also implemented the RoHS directive into German law. In order to comply with the WEEE directive, it was decided on October 21, 2003 to revise the VDI directive 2343. This provides comments and recommendations for action on handling waste electrical and electronic equipment and includes aspects of the basics, logistics, dismantling, processing, recycling, marketing and reuse (ReUse).

Austria

The implementation of the European legal requirements on waste avoidance, collection and treatment of old electrical and electronic devices is carried out in Austria primarily through the Old Electrical Equipment Ordinance (EAG-VO). Among other things, this enabled and regulated the possibility of returning electrical appliances from private households to collection points in Austria free of charge.

Current situation in Germany

On August 15, 2018, the WEEE Directive was implemented in Germany with the "Law on the placing on the market, return and environmentally compatible disposal of electrical and electronic equipment" (abbreviation: Elektrogesetz) in the version of October 20, 2015.

Terminology of electrical and electronic equipment

For the purposes of this law, these are devices that are designed for operation with AC voltage of at most 1,000 volts or DC voltage of at most 1,500 volts and 

  a) zu ihrem ordnungsgemäßen Betrieb von elektrischen Strömen oder elektromagnetischen Feldern abhängig sind oder

  b) der Erzeugung, Übertragung und Messung von elektrischen Strömen und elektromagnetischen Feldern dienen.

Manufacturer's obligations

Registration requirement

Manufacturers of electronic (electronic) devices are obliged to register them with the EAR Foundation before they are launched on the market . The aim is a comprehensive registration of all electronic (electronic) devices in the trade so that they can be properly assigned to the manufacturer and disposed of.

Take-back

The manufacturers are also obliged to guarantee the return of old devices and to dispose of them. This can be done either through registered collection points, such as B. recycling centers or via manufacturer's own contact points, such. B. branches possible.

Designation of authorized representatives

With the implementation of the WEEE directive in national law, manufacturers are also obliged to name an authorized representative if they do not have a branch in Germany. The authorized person then assumes the obligations of the non-resident manufacturer in Germany.

See also

literature

  • VDI guideline 2343 - recycling of electrical (on) ic devices. Beuth Verlag, Berlin ( vdi.de ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Official Journal of the European Union: DIRECTIVE 2012/19 / EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on waste electrical and electronic equipment. July 4, 2012, accessed August 26, 2019 .
  2. ↑ European Commission: Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment (WEEE). Retrieved February 22, 2016 .
  3. ↑ Federal Law Gazette II No. 121/2005
  4. ↑ Information on the waste electrical and electronic equipment ordinance and list of amendments , website bmnt.gv.at.
  5. ↑ § 3 ElektroG - single standard. Retrieved August 26, 2019 .
  6. ↑ § 19 ElektroG - single standard. Retrieved August 26, 2019 .
  7. ↑ § 8 ElektroG - single standard. Retrieved August 26, 2019 .