The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013

PART 1U.K.GENERAL

Citation, commencement and extentU.K.

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013.

(2) Subject to paragraphs (3), (4) and (5) these Regulations shall come into force on 1st January 2014.

(3) Regulation 66(6) and Schedule 11, Part 2, paragraph 23 shall come into force on 1st January 2016.

(4) Regulations 6, 11(11)(a)(ii), 11(13)(b), 17(1)(d)(ii), 20(2) 28(8)(a)(ii), 28(10)(b), 36, 38, 41, 57(g)(ii), 58(3)(c)(ii), 66(7) and (8), schedule 7, Part 1, paragraph 6(c), schedule 8 Part 3 and schedule 11, Part 2, paragraph 24 shall come into force on 1st January 2019.

(5) Regulations 59, 65 and 94 do not extend to Northern Ireland.

InterpretationU.K.

2.  In these Regulations—

[F1“the Directive” means Directive 2012/19/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE),] [F2as last amended by Directive (EU) 2018/849] [F3, as read in accordance with regulation 2A];

[F4“the Waste Directive” means Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on waste] [F5, as last amended by] [F6Directive (EU) 2018/851] [F7and as read in accordance with regulation 2B ];

“AATF” means an approved authorised treatment facility;

F8...

“active implantable medical device” means an active implantable medical device within the meaning of [F9regulation 2(1) of the Medical Devices Regulations 2002] which are EEE;

“appliances containing refrigerants” means—

that fall within category 1 of Schedule 1;

“approved authorised treatment facility” means an authorised treatment facility which is approved under regulation 61;

“approved exporter” means an exporter who is approved under regulation 61;

“appropriate authority” means—

“ATF” means an authorised treatment facility;

“authorised representative” means any person who is established in the United Kingdom and who has been appointed by a producer under regulation 14(2);

“authorised treatment facility” means any facility operated by an establishment or undertaking carrying out treatment and which is licensed or otherwise permitted under or by virtue of any legislation made in the United Kingdom, or in any part of the United Kingdom, which implements Article 9 of the Directive;

“collection” has the meaning given by Article 3 the Waste Directive;

“code of practice” means the code of practice issued by the Secretary of State under regulation 72;

“compliance fee” means a fee calculated in accordance with the methodology approved by the Secretary of State under regulation 76;

“compliance period” means—

F15...

“declaration of compliance” means the declaration of compliance referred to in regulation 19(1) or 39(1);

[F16“Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs” means the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland;]

“designated collection facility” means any establishment or undertaking carrying out collection operations and which is approved by the Secretary of State under regulation 70;

“display equipment” means—

“disposal” has the meaning given by Article 3 the Waste Directive;

“distributor” means any person in the supply chain who makes an item of EEE available on the market but a distributor may also be a producer;

“distributor take back scheme” means a distributor take back scheme approved by the Secretary of State under regulation 68;

“EEE” means electrical and electronic equipment;

“EEE producer registration number” means the registration number issued to a producer or their authorised representative by the appropriate authority under regulation 26;

“electrical and electronic equipment” means equipment which is dependent on electric currents or electromagnetic fields in order to work properly and equipment for the generation, transfer and measurement of such currents and fields and designed for use with a voltage rating not exceeding 1,000 volts for alternating current and 1,500 volts for direct current;

“end-user” means any person who uses a piece of EEE;

“enforcement authority” has the meaning given in regulation 87(5);

“enforcement notice” means a notice in writing served in accordance with regulation 88; “enforcement officer” has the meaning given in regulation 89(15)(b);

“Environment Agency” means the body established under section 1(1) of the Environment Act 1995(1);

[F17“evidence note” means an evidence note issued, in the format approved by the Secretary of State under regulation 73, by—

“exporter” means a person who, in the ordinary course of conduct of a trade, occupation or profession, exports—

“financial year” in relation to a scheme member—

but as if the reference there to an undertaking were a reference to that scheme member;

“first compliance period” means the period commencing on 1st January 2014 and ending with 31st December 2014;

“first quarter period” means a period commencing on 1st January and ending with 31st March;

“fourth quarter period” means a period commencing on 1st October and ending with 31st December;

“gas discharge lamp” means a gas discharge lamp that falls within category 5 of Schedule 1;

“hazardous waste” has the meaning given by Article 3 of the Waste Directive;

[F18“in vitro diagnostic medical device” means an in vitro diagnostic device or accessory within the meaning of—

which is EEE;.]

“issue” in relation to an evidence note means to sell or otherwise supply to any person;

“large-scale stationary industrial tools” means a large-scale assembly of machines, equipment, and/or components, functioning together for a specific application, permanently installed and de-installed by professionals at a given place, and used and maintained by professionals in an industrial manufacturing facility or research and development facility;

“large scale fixed installations” means a large–size combination of several types of apparatus and, where applicable, other devices which:

“LED light source” means a product that falls within category 5 of Schedule 1 and which uses an integrated light emitting diode as its light source;

[F19“local authority” means—

“making available on the market” means any supply of a product for distribution, consumption or use on the market of [F20the United Kingdom] in the course of a commercial activity, whether in return for payment or free of charge;

“medical device” means a medical device or accessory [F21within the meaning of regulation 2(1) of the Medical Devices Regulations 2002, which is WEEE];

F22...

[F23“national authority” means—

“Natural Resources Body for Wales” means the body established by article 3 of the Natural Resources Body for Wales (Establishment) Order 2012(4);

“new scheme” has the meaning given in regulation 14(9)(a);

“non-obligated WEEE” means WEEE received by an AATF or approved exporter other than from or on behalf of a scheme;

“non-road mobile machinery” means machinery, with an on-board power source, the operation of which requires either mobility or continuous or semi-continuous movement between a succession of fixed working locations while working;

“old scheme” has the meaning given in regulation 14(9);

“operator of an AATF” means the operator of a treatment facility that has been approved under regulation 61;

“operator of a collection facility” means the operator of an establishment or undertaking carrying out collection operations;

“operator of a scheme” means the operator of a scheme that has been approved under regulation 55;

“operator of a proposed scheme” means the operator of a proposed scheme that is the subject of an application for approval made under regulation 55;

[F24“PBS” means producer compliance scheme balancing system;]

“placing on the market” means the first making available of a product on the market F25... on a professional basis;

“Planning Appeals Commission” means the Planning Appeals Commission constituted under Article 110 of the Planning (Northern Ireland) Order 1991(5);

“premises” includes any land or means of transport;

“preparing for re-use” has the meaning given by Article 3 of, and Annex I of the Waste Directive;

“prevention” has the meaning given by Article 3 of, and Annex I of the Waste Directive;

“producer” means any natural or legal person who, irrespective of the selling technique used, including by means of distance communication F26... —

“proposed scheme” means a proposed scheme that is the subject of an application for approval made under regulation 55;

“quarter period” means—

“recovery” has the meaning given by Article 3 of and Annex II of the Waste Directive, and “recover”, “recovered” and “recovery operation” shall be construed accordingly;

“recycling” has the meaning given by Article 3 of the Waste Directive and “recycled” and “recycling operation” shall be construed accordingly;

“register of producers” means the register of producers maintained by the appropriate authority under regulation 77;

“registered in the United Kingdom” means—

“relevant approval period” has the meaning given in regulation 61(7);

“relevant authorisation” means—

“relevant compliance period” means any compliance period, or any part of a compliance period, in respect of which any person has any obligation under these Regulations;

“reprocessor” means a person who, in the ordinary course of conduct of a trade, occupation or profession, carries out one or more activities of recovery or recycling and who holds a relevant authorisation;

“removal” means manual, mechanical, chemical or metallurgic handling with the result that hazardous substances, mixtures and components are contained in an identifiable stream or are in an identifiable part of a stream within the treatment process. A substance, mixture or component is identifiable if it can be monitored to verify environmentally safe treatment;

“reuse” has the meaning given by Article 3 of, and Annex I of the Waste Directive and “reused” shall be construed accordingly;

“scheme” means a scheme that operates in the United Kingdom and has been approved [F32by] the relevant appropriate authority under regulation 55;

“scheme member” means—

“Scottish Environment Protection Agency” means the body established under section 20(1) of the Environment Act 1995;

“second quarter period” means a period commencing on 1st April and ending with 30th June;

“SEPA” means the Scottish Environment Protection Agency;

“small producer” means a person falling within the definition of producer and who places less than 5 tonnes of EEE onto the market in a compliance period;

“the transitional period” means 1st January 2014 until 31st December 2018;

“third quarter period” means a period commencing on 1st July and ending with 30th September;

“separate collection” has the meaning given by Article 3 of the Waste Directive;

“treatment” has the meaning given by Article 3 of the Waste Directive, and “treat”, “treated” and “treatment operation” shall be construed accordingly;

“turnover” means, in relation to a scheme member, their turnover as defined in—

[F33“very small WEEE” means an item of WEEE with no external dimension more than 25cm;]

“waste electrical and electronic equipment” means electrical or electronic equipment which is waste within the meaning of Article 3(1) of the Waste Directive [F34, as read with Articles 5 and 6 of that Directive,] including all components, subassemblies and consumables which are part of the product at the time of discarding;

“WEEE” means waste electrical and electronic equipment;

“WEEE collection stream” means—

“WEEE from private households” means WEEE which comes from private households and WEEE which comes from commercial, industrial, institutional and other sources which, because of its nature and quantity, is similar to that from private households. Waste from EEE likely to be used by both private households and users other than private households shall in any event be considered to be WEEE from private households;

“writing” includes text that is—

“year” means a calendar year commencing on 1st January.]

[F35Modification of the DirectiveU.K.

2A.—(1) For the purposes of these Regulations, the Directive is to be read in accordance with this regulation.

(2) A reference to one or more member States or the competent authorities in a provision imposing an obligation or providing a discretion on a member State, member States or competent authority is to be read as a reference to the national authority or appropriate authority which, immediately before IP completion day, was responsible for the United Kingdom's compliance with that obligation or able to exercise that discretion.

(3) A reference to a term in the Directive which is defined in regulation 2 to these Regulations is to be read as if it had the meaning given in regulation 2.

(4) Article 3 is to be read as if paragraphs 1(e), (f) and (l) and (2) were omitted.

(5) Article 5(2)(e) is to be read as if “and Union” were omitted.

(6) Article 8 is to be read as if—

(a)paragraph 4 were omitted;

(b)in paragraph 5, the second to fifth subparagraphs were omitted.

(7) Article 9 is to be read as if—

(a)in paragraphs 1 and 2, for “Directive 2008/98/EC” there were substituted “ the Waste Directive ”;

(b)in paragraph 3, for the words “Article 11” there were substituted “paragraphs 23 and 24 of Schedule 11 to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013;

(c)after paragraph 3, there were inserted—

“4.  In paragraph 3, “permit”—

(a)in relation to England and Wales, means an environmental permit issued under regulation 13(1) of the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016;

(b)in relation to Northern Ireland, means—

(i)a waste management licence granted under Article 6 of the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997, or

(ii)a permit granted under regulation 10 of the Pollution Prevention and Control (Industrial Emissions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2013;

(c)in relation to Scotland, means a site licence issued under section 35 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 or a permit issued under regulation 13 of the Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012.”.

(8) Article 11 is to be read as if paragraphs 3 and 6 were omitted.

(9) Annex 7 is to be read as if, in paragraph 1—

(a)in the first subparagraph—

(i)in the first indent, for the words from “Council Directive 96/59/EC” to the end there were substituted “ the relevant PCB legislation ”;

(ii)in the thirteenth indent, for the words from “Commission Directive 97/69/EC” to the end there were substituted “ Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures ”;

(iii)in the fourteenth indent, for the words from “Article 3” to the end there were substituted “ Annex 7 to the Basic Safety Standards Directive ”;

(b)in the second subparagraph, for “Directive 2008/98/EC” there were substituted “ the Waste Directive ”.

(10) Annex 8 is to be read as if, in paragraph 1, in the words before the first indent, the words from “(without prejudice” to “landfill of waste)” were omitted.

(11) In paragraph (8)(a)(i), the “relevant PCB legislation” means—

(a)in relation to England and Wales, the Environmental Protection (Disposal of Polychlorinated Biphenyls and other Dangerous Substances) (England and Wales) Regulations 2000;

(b)in relation to Scotland, the Environmental Protection (Disposal of Polychlorinated Biphenyls and other Dangerous Substances) (Scotland) Regulations 2000;

(c)in relation to Northern Ireland, the Environmental Protection (Disposal of Polychlorinated Biphenyls and other Dangerous Substances) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000.

Modification of the Waste DirectiveU.K.

2B.—(1) For the purposes of these Regulations, the Waste Directive is to be read in accordance with this regulation.

(2) A reference to one or more member States or a competent authority in a provision imposing an obligation or providing a discretion on a member State, member States or competent authority is to be read as a reference to the national authority or appropriate authority which, immediately before IP completion day, was responsible for the United Kingdom's compliance with that obligation or able to exercise that discretion.

(3) Article 3(20) is to be read as if for “Article 2(11) of Directive 96/61/EC” there were substituted “ Article 3(10) of the Industrial Emissions Directive ”.

(4)  Article 5 is to be read as if—

(a)in paragraph 1, “Member States shall take appropriate measures to ensure that” were omitted;

(b)after paragraph 1 there were inserted—

“1A.  Any decision as to whether a substance or object is a by-product must be made—

(a)in accordance with any regulations setting out detailed criteria on the application of the conditions in paragraph 1 to specific substances or objects; and

(b)having regard to any relevant guidance published by the national authority or the appropriate authority.”;

(c)paragraphs 2 and 3 were omitted.

(5)  Article 6 is to be read as if—

(a)in paragraph 1, “Member States shall take appropriate measures to ensure that” were omitted;

(b)after paragraph 1 there were inserted—

“1A.  Any decision as to whether a substance or object has ceased to be waste must be made—

(a)in accordance with any regulations or retained direct EU legislation setting out detailed criteria on the application of the conditions in paragraph 1 to specific types of waste; and

(b)having regard to any relevant guidance published by the national authority or the appropriate authority.”;

(c)in paragraph 2—

(i)the first subparagraph were omitted;

(ii)in the second subparagraph, for “Those detailed criteria” there were substituted “Any detailed criteria set out in guidance as referred to in paragraph 1A”;

(iii)the third and fourth subparagraphs were omitted;

(d)paragraph 3 were omitted;

(e)in paragraph 4—

(i)in the first subparagraph—

(aa)in the first sentence, for the words from the beginning to “Member State”, there were substituted “Where criteria have not been set out as referred to in paragraph 1A(a), the appropriate authority”;

(bb)the second sentence were omitted;

(ii)in the second subparagraph—

(aa)for “Member States” there were substituted “The appropriate authority”;

(bb)“by competent authorities” were omitted.

(6)  Article 7 is to be read as if—

(a)before paragraph 1 there were inserted—

“A1.  In this Article, the “list of waste” means the list contained in the Annex to Commission Decision 2000/532/EC, as that list has effect in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland (as the case may be).”;

(b)in paragraph 1—

(i)the first and second sentences were omitted;

(ii)for the third sentence there were substituted “The list of waste shall, except as provided in Commission Decision 2000/532/EC, be binding as regards determination of the waste which is to be considered as hazardous waste or as non-hazardous waste.”;

(c)paragraphs 2, 3, 6 and 7 were omitted.

(7) Article 23 is to be read as if in paragraph 5, “or Community” were omitted.

(7A) Article 25 is to be read as if paragraph 3 were omitted.

(8) Annex 3 is to read as if, in entry HP 9, in the second sentence, “in the Member States” were omitted.

Meaning of “the Basic Safety Standards Directive” and “the Industrial Emissions Directive”U.K.

2C.—(1) In regulation 2A(8)(a)(iii) and this regulation, “the Basic Safety Standards Directive” means Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom laying down basic safety standards for protection against the dangers arising from exposure to ionising radiation, read in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (4).

(2) A reference to one or more member States or a competent authority in a provision imposing an obligation or providing a discretion on a member State, member States or competent authority is to be read as a reference to the national authority or appropriate authority which, immediately before IP completion day, was responsible for the United Kingdom's compliance with that obligation or able to exercise that discretion.

(3) Article 4(79) is to be read as if “under the legislative and regulatory framework of the Member State” there were substituted “in the United Kingdom”.

(4) Annex 7 is to be read as if, in section 2—

(a)in points (c) and (d), “Community” were omitted;

(b)in point (e), in the second sentence, for “Article 75” there were substituted “ regulation 7 of the Ionising Radiation (Basic Safety Standards) (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2018 ”.

(5) In regulation 2B(3), “the Industrial Emissions Directive” means Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on industrial emissions (integrated pollution prevention and control), read in accordance with paragraphs (6) and (7).

(6) Article 3 is to be read as if—

(a)in point (1)(a), for the words from “Article 1” to the end there were substituted “ Article 4(78) of the Basic Safety Standards Directive ”;

(b)in point (10)(b), for “Member State in question” there were substituted “ United Kingdom ”;

(c)in point (23), for the words from “point 1” to the end there were substituted “ point 1 of the second subparagraph of Article 2 of Council Directive 2009/158/EC on animal health conditions governing intra-Community trade in, and imports from third countries of, poultry and hatching eggs ”;

(d)in point (37), for the words from “of the European” to the end there were substituted “ , read with Articles 5 and 6 of that Directive ”.

(7) Annex 1 is to be read as if—

(a)in the words before point 1, the second paragraph were omitted;

(b)in point 5.3—

(i)in point (a), in the words before point (i), for “Council Directive 91/271/EEC of 21 May 1991 concerning urban waste-water treatment” there were substituted “ the urban waste water treatment legislation ”;

(ii)in point (b), in the words before point (i), for “Directive 91/271/EEC” there were substituted “ the urban waste water treatment legislation ”;

(c)in point 5.4, the reference to Council Directive 1999/31/EC of 26 April 1999 on the landfill of waste were a reference to the Landfill Directive;

(d)in point 6.9, for “Directive 2009/31/EC” there were substituted “ the EU-derived domestic legislation which transposed Directive 2009/31/EC ”;

(e)in point 6.11, for “Directive 91/271/EEC” there were substituted “ the urban waste water treatment legislation ”.

(8) In paragraph (7)(b) and (e), “the urban waste water treatment legislation” means—

(a)in England and Wales, the Urban Waste Water Treatment (England and Wales) Regulations 1994;

(b)in Scotland, the Urban Waste Water Treatment (Scotland) Regulations 1994;

(c)in Northern Ireland, the Urban Waste Water Treatment Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007.

(9)  In paragraph (7)(c), “the Landfill Directive” means Council Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste, as last amended by Directive (EU) 2018/850, and read as if, in Article 2—

(a)in point (a) “‘waste’,” were omitted; and

(b)after point (a) there were inserted—

“(aa)“waste” means anything that—

(i)is waste within the meaning of Article 3(1) of Directive 2008/98/EC, as read with Articles 5 and 6 of that Directive, and

(ii)is not excluded from the scope of that Directive by Article 2(1), (2) or (3) of that Directive;”.]

Interpretation of documentsU.K.

3.  In these Regulations—

(a)any document which is to be provided or given to any person may be provided or given to that person by electronic means if the document is capable of being reproduced by that person in legible form;

(b)any requirement to make, keep or retain a record or to maintain any register may be satisfied in electronic form if the text is capable of being produced in a legible documentary form by the person who is subject to the requirement;

(c)any requirement for a signature may be satisfied by an electronic signature incorporated into the document; and

(d)for the purposes of paragraph (c), “electronic signature” means data in electronic form which are attached to or logically associated with other electronic data and which serve as a method of authentication.

Service of documentsU.K.

4.—(1) Any document required or authorised by these Regulations to be served on a person may be so served—

(a)by delivering it to him at or by leaving it at—

(i)the address provided by that person in accordance with these Regulations, or

(ii)his proper address;

(b)by sending it by post to him at either of the addresses mentioned in sub-paragraph (a) [F36or by electronic means to the person’s email address provided by that person in accordance with these Regulations];

(c)where the person is a partnership, by serving it in accordance with sub-paragraph (a) or (b) on a partner or on a person having control or management of the partnership business;

(d)where the person is a body corporate, by serving it in accordance with sub-paragraph (a) or (b) on the secretary or clerk of that body corporate; or

(e)where the person is an unincorporated body, by serving it in accordance with sub-paragraph (a) or (b) on a person having control or management of that body.

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1), and for the purposes of section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978(11) (which relates to the service of documents by post) in its application to that paragraph, the proper address of any person on whom a document is to be served in accordance with these Regulations will be his last known address except that—

(a)in the case of service on a partnership or a partner or a person having the control or management of a partnership business, it will be the principal place of business in the United Kingdom of the partnership;

(b)in the case of service on a body registered in the United Kingdom or its secretary or clerk, it will be the address of the registered office or principal place of business in the United Kingdom of the body; and

(c)in the case of service on a body that is not registered in the United Kingdom, it will be the address of the principal place of business in the United Kingdom of the body.