Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive) was introduced into UK law in January 2007 by the Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment Regulations 2006.

The WEEE Directive aims to reduce the amount of electrical and electronic equipment being produced and to encourage everyone to reuse, recycle and recover it.

The WEEE Directive also aims to improve the environmental performance of businesses that manufacture, supply, use, recycle and recover electrical and electronic equipment.

When businesses produce waste, they have a range of responsibilities. These include complying with the requirements of the duty of care, and if they're producing hazardous waste, they may need to register as a producer under the Hazardous Waste Regulations.


The WEEE Directive covers a wide range of electrical and electronic products, although some are exempt from certain requirements.

The types of products covered are:
 

• large and small household appliances
• IT and telecommunication equipment;
• consumer equipment such as TVs, videos, hi-fi
• lighting, electrical and electronic tools (except large stationary industrial tools)
• toys, leisure and sports equipment
• automatic dispensers
• medical devices (these are exempt from the WEEE recycling and recovery targets)
• monitoring and control instruments