EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) - Main contents

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dossier	COM(2023)63 - Amendment of Directive 2012/19/EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).
document	COM(2023)63
date	March 13, 2024

Article 1

Amendments to Directive 2012/19/EU

Directive 2012/19/EU is amended as follows:

(1)

the following article is inserted:

‘Article 24a

Review

1. No later than 31 December 2026, the Commission shall assess the need for a revision of this Directive and, where appropriate, present a legislative proposal in that respect, accompanied by a thorough socioeconomic and environmental impact assessment.

2. In the impact assessment referred to in paragraph 1, the Commission shall consider, in particular, the need for:

(a)	provisions which specifically ensure that the principle of legal certainty is adhered to and that there is no unjustified retroactive effect in any Member State;

(b)	provisions which ensure the implementation of the waste hierarchy as laid down in Article 4 of Directive 2008/98/EC;

(c)	provisions which ensure that citizens and consumers are not burdened with disproportionate costs, in line with the ‘polluter pays’ principle;

(d)	provisions which ensure full implementation and enforcement of this Directive, in particular with regard to adequate collection targets, as well as with regard to preventing illegal trade of WEEE;

(e)

creating a new EEE category for ‘photovoltaic panels’ under this Directive with the aim to disassociate photovoltaic panels from the existing EEE category 4, ‘large equipment’, as referred to in Annexes III and IV, and calculating the collection targets on the basis of waste photovoltaic panels available for collection based on their expected lifetime, rather than on the quantity of products placed on the market;

(f)

establishing a mechanism to ensure that, in the event of failure or liquidation of the producer, the future costs of collection, treatment, recovery and environmentally sound disposal of waste from photovoltaic panels from both private households and users other than private households will be covered financially.’

;

(2)

Article 12 is amended as follows:

(a)

paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

‘1. Member States shall ensure that producers provide at least for the financing of the collection, treatment, recovery and environmentally sound disposal of WEEE from private households that has been deposited at collection facilities set up under Article 5(2) as follows:

(a)	for WEEE resulting from EEE referred to in Article 2(1), point (a), other than photovoltaic panels, where such EEE was placed on the market after 13 August 2005;

(b)	for WEEE resulting from photovoltaic panels where such photovoltaic panels were placed on the market from 13 August 2012; and

(c)	for WEEE resulting from EEE referred to in Article 2(1), point (b), and which does not fall within the scope of Article 2(1), point (a), where such EEE was placed on the market from 15 August 2018.’

;

(b)

in paragraph 3, the first subparagraph is replaced by the following:

‘3. Each producer shall be responsible for financing the operations referred to in paragraph 1 relating to the waste from his own products. The producer may choose to fulfil this obligation either individually or by joining a collective scheme.’

;

(c)

paragraph 4 is replaced by the following:

‘4. The responsibility for the financing of the costs of the management of WEEE from products referred to in Article 2(1), point (a), other than photovoltaic panels, placed on the market on or before 13 August 2005 (‘historical waste’) shall be borne by one or more systems to which all producers existing on the market when the respective costs occur contribute proportionately, e.g. in proportion to their respective share of the market by type of equipment.’

;

(3)

in Article 13, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

‘1. Member States shall ensure that the financing of the costs for the collection, treatment, recovery and environmentally sound disposal of WEEE from users other than private households is to be provided for by producers as follows:

(a)	for WEEE resulting from EEE referred to in Article 2(1), point (a), other than photovoltaic panels, where such EEE was placed on the market after 13 August 2005;

(b)	for WEEE resulting from photovoltaic panels where such photovoltaic panels were placed on the market from 13 August 2012; and

(c)	for WEEE resulting from EEE referred to in Article 2(1), point (b), which does not fall within the scope of Article 2(1), point (a), where such EEE was placed on the market from 15 August 2018.

For historical waste from EEE referred to in Article 2(1), point (a), other than photovoltaic panels, being replaced by new equivalent products or by new products fulfilling the same function, the financing of the costs shall be provided for by producers of those products when supplying them. Member States may, as an alternative, provide that users other than private households also be made, partly or totally, responsible for that financing.

For other historical waste from EEE referred to in Article 2(1), point (a), other than photovoltaic panels, the financing of the costs shall be provided for by the users other than private households.’

;

(4)

in Article 14, paragraph 4 is replaced by the following:

‘4. With a view to minimising the disposal of WEEE as unsorted municipal waste and to facilitating its separate collection, Member States shall ensure that producers appropriately mark – preferably in accordance with the European standard EN 50419:2022 – EEE placed on the market with the symbol shown in Annex IX. In exceptional cases, where this is necessary because of the size or the function of the product, the symbol shall be printed on the packaging, on the instructions for use and on the warranty of the EEE.’

;

(5)

in Article 15, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

‘2. In order to enable the date upon which the EEE was placed on the market to be determined unequivocally, Member States shall ensure that a mark on the EEE specifies that the latter was placed on the market after 13 August 2005. Preferably, the European standard EN 50419:2022 shall be applied for this purpose.

For photovoltaic panels, the obligation referred to in the first subparagraph shall only apply to photovoltaic panels placed on the market from 13 August 2012.

For EEE referred to in Article 2(1), point (b), and which do not fall within the scope of Article 2(1), point (a), the obligation referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall only apply to the EEE placed on the market from 15 August 2018.’.

Article 2

Transposition

1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 9 October 2025. They shall immediately inform the Commission thereof.

When Member States adopt those measures, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or be accompanied by such reference on the occasion of their official publication. Member States shall determine how such reference is to be made.

2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the main measures of national law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive.

Article 3

Entry into force

This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 4

Addressees

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.