What is WEEE and why should you care?

This article is a brief introduction to the EU Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive and the problems of implementation over dozens of member states.

WEEE is a European Law effected February 2003 that targets collection and recycling for all types of electrical products. In plain terms, it's about take-back requirements for electrical gear. WEEE imposes this responsibility on the producers of electrical products, not on the end-users. It states that end users of electrical equipment from private households should have the possibility of "returning WEEE at least free of charge."

WEEE was drafted and debated a decade before its enactment in 2003. During the time prior to and after its enactment, EU member states have encountered problems that the rest of the world should be aware of as WEEE is managed worldwide. Specifically, the various EU member states are implementing the EU WEEE directive in different ways.

The WEEE directive states that it is to be put into national law, but member states are free to go beyond the minimum requirements. This ability to adopt additional requirements is one of the primary reasons for the disparity between the EU WEEE Directive and the actual legislation that is drafted in any particular member state. This may be analogous to US Federal law which US states must comply with but which also allows states to enact more stringent requirements.

This lack of conformity makes it difficult for individual electronics producers, and even end users, to have any standardized system of handling WEEE. Producers may be subject to different standards in different countries, while consumers may not even have the same drop off systems in different regions of their own country.For producers in particular, attempting to legally comply with the particularities of dozens of different member states (not to mention the rest of the world) creates vexing problems.

There is a difficult balance between individual member state autonomy and the benefits of standardization. Producers prefer a standardized system which realistically allows them to comply by following a single standard. However, individual member states may desire more stringent or aggressive measures than the WEEE allows for.

Changing Goals for Managing WEEE

This table from the study "Where are WEEE now" by Federico Magalini and Jaco Huisman presented at 2007 International Symposium on Electronics and the Environment (ISEE) provides a succinct and insightful look at where the WEEE Directive originally focused, and with 10 years experience, where the focus has shifted.

The US and the rest of the world now have an opportunity to learn from the EU member states and the WEEE Directive as a whole. Any country which has the ability to create and enforce a standardized WEEE management program on a large scale may be able to avoid the pitfalls of EU Member states and lack of standardization.

For countries with a strong central government, there may be an opportunity to avoid regional variations in WEEE management. Take the US for example. The US could create a new administrative agency or grant additional powers to a current agency like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA.) This agency could then set and apply a consistent standard that electronics producers could comply with. What may not work is allowing forward thinking states-California comes to mind-to lead the pack and impose additional requirements on electronics producers.

Electronics producers themselves should consider drafting their own industry standards to preempt national governments doing the job for them. The fewer WEEE management schemes that electronics producers must comply with, the less red tape and expense they will incur.

Finally, regardless of the high-level standards that are adopted, full implementation on a local level is critical. If individuals are unable to locate a local place to recycle their electronics goods and instead the goods are sent to the landfill instead, then the high level standards are useless.

WEEE is a difficult problem but one worth tackling. With cohesive programs oriented towards efficiency an efficacy WEEE could be drastically reduced on a worldwide scale.