The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2006

PART 5DISTRIBUTOR OBLIGATIONS AND RIGHTS: WEEE FROM PRIVATE HOUSEHOLDS

Take back

31.  A distributor who supplies new EEE to a person shall ensure that WEEE from private households can be returned to him free of charge and on a one-to-one basis by that person, provided that any such WEEE—

(a)is of equivalent type to, and

(b)has fulfilled the same function as,

the supplied equipment.

Return

32.—(1) A distributor may return WEEE from private households free of charge to the system that has been set up by an operator of a scheme that has been approved under regulation 41 for the purposes of complying with that operator of a scheme’s obligations in relation to WEEE from private households under regulation 22.

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1), “system” means a system that an operator of a scheme has set up—

(a)in accordance with regulations 24, 25 and 26; and

(b)under regulation 39.

Information

33.  A distributor who supplies new EEE shall make information available to users of EEE in private households on—

(a)the requirement on each member State under Article 2 of the Directive to minimise the disposal of WEEE as unsorted municipal waste and to achieve a high level of collection of WEEE for treatment, recovery and environmentally sound disposal;

(b)the collection and take back systems available to them;

(c)their role in contributing to the reuse, recycling and other forms of recovery of WEEE under these Regulations;

(d)the potential effects on the environment and human health as a result of the presence of hazardous substances in EEE; and

(e)the meaning of the crossed out wheeled bin symbol shown in Schedule 4.

Record keeping

34.—(1) A distributor to whom the obligation in regulation 31 applies shall maintain records of the number of units of WEEE from private households returned to him under that regulation.

(2) A distributor who returns WEEE from private households under regulation 32 shall maintain records of the number of units of WEEE from private households returned by him under that regulation.

(3) Each distributor to whom the obligation in regulation 33 applies shall maintain records of the information made available under that regulation.

(4) The records referred to in this regulation shall be kept for a period of at least four years commencing on the date on which any such record is made and shall be made available to the Secretary of State on demand.

Exemption for members of a distributor take back scheme

35.  Where a distributor is a member of a distributor take back scheme, he shall be exempt from complying with the requirements of regulation 31 and 34(1) for the period during which his membership of that scheme subsists.