Draft WEEE Regulations and Guidance
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has published a draft form of the long-awaited WEEE Regulations. A guidance note to accompany the draft regulations has also been published.
The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (Waste Management Licensing) (England and Wales) Regulations 2006 are timetabled to enter into force in January 2007. The Regulations implement the European Directive 2002/96/EC on waste electronic and electrical equipment (as amended by Directive 2003/108/EC), commonly referred to as the WEEE Directive.
The Regulations have been published following the conclusion of the consultation on proposals for implementing the Directive, which closed on 17th October (as reported in the August edition of In Touch). The full text of the draft Regulations is available from the Defra website at:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/topics/electrical/pdf/weee-draftregs.pdf
Accompanying the draft Regulations, Defra (jointly with the Welsh Assembly and Scottish Executive) has published its Guidance on Best Available Treatment Recovery and Recycling Techniques (BATRRT) and treatment of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). This document provides guidance on the WEEE Licensing Regulations, and provides guidance on the treatment, recycling and recovery of waste electrical and electronic equipment at an authorised treatment facility. BATRRT is the extension of the principles of “Best Available Techniques” (or BAT, as defined in the Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations) to systems that provide for the recovery, recycling and treatment (RRT) of WEEE.
The guidance is available from the Defra website at:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/topics/electrical/pdf/weee-batrrt-guidance.pdf
Source: www.defra.gov.uk (accessed 04/12/06)