WEEE Regulations, Recycling & Compliance

Is your company compliant with the UK Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations?

Who needs to comply?

If your business manufactures, re-brands, imports electrical or electronic equipment (EEE) or sells EEE to household consumers, it will be affected by the WEEE Regulations.

 

It is important to establish if your business is obligated, as non-compliance may result in hefty fines and/ or damage to business reputation.

Question Mark

Is your business obligated under the WEEE Regulations?

Your organisation has a WEEE obligation if it:

  • re-brands, with own brand, EEE that was manufactured by another company
  • manufactures electrical or electronic equipment (EEE) under own brand in the UK
  • imports EEE into the UK
  • sells EEE to household consumers

Take our obligation test
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We are an approved WEEE compliance scheme and will register a business with the relevant environment agency and check and submit data to ensure compliance. For large producers, we will also take on the legal responsibility for compliance with the Regulations. To meet this obligation we arrange the collection, treatment, and recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment. Additional Valpak membership benefits include:

  • Access to fully trained experts for help and advice
  • A unique online data submission system with interactive guidance
  • Free training workshops
  • Free compliance reviews
  • Access to a dedicated Members’ Area of our website
  • Free use of the Green Dot symbol
  • A certificate of registration
  • Representation at Government level
  • Regulatory changes and consultations updates
  • Option to integrate your top 50 products for FREE with the Bower Recycling App
Plug socket

We offer guidance on the options available: in-store collection of electrical or electronic equipment or joining the Distributor Take back Scheme. If you are interested in our WEEE Collection Service, visit our WEEEBox web page for further information.

We also advise businesses on what information should be provided to their customers about how to recycle electrical or electronic equipment.

Vape takeback service

Vape Takeback Scheme

Vapes are exempt from the Distributor Takeback Scheme, which means that all retailers selling vapes are required to offer in-store takeback to customers purchasing vapes under the WEEE Regulations.

We provide a Vape Takeback Scheme to make it easy for vape retailer customers or staff to recycle used, undamaged vapes at local collection points, whilst providing vape producers and distributors a way to meet their WEEE obligations.

Click here to find out more

FAQs

Producers that place more than 5 tonnes of EEE onto the UK market must:

  • join a WEEE compliance scheme within 28 days of placing EEE onto the UK market
  • complete annual or quarterly data submissions to report the amount of EEE placed onto the UK market
  • ensure EEE is marked with the crossed out wheeled bin symbol and a producer identification mark e.g. brand name
  • finance the cost of the collection, treatment, recovery and environmentally sound disposal of WEEE (For B2C producers this is done via a compliance scheme)

Producers that place 5 tonnes or less of EEE onto the UK market must:

  • register directly with the Environment Agency within 28 days of placing EEE onto the UK market
  • complete an annual data submission to report the amount of EEE placed onto the UK market
  • ensure EEE is marked with the crossed out wheeled bin symbol and a producer identification mark e.g. brand name

 

Distributors (“sellers”) must provide information to consumers about their role in recycling, the environmental impacts of hazardous substances found in WEEE, the importance of separating WEEE from other waste streams and the meaning of the ‘crossed out wheeled bin symbol’.

In addition to this distributors that sell more than £100,000 worth of EEE AND have a physical store/retail space must:

  • offer in-store take back on a one-for-one, like-for-like basis for all types of EEE that they sell

Distributors that sell less than £100,000 worth of EEE OR are online/distance selling only must:

  • offer in-store take back on a one-for-one, like-for-like basis for all types of EEE that they sell

OR

A business will need to pay three sets of fees in order to become compliant with the Regulations:

  1. Agency fees – Every business has to pay a set environment agency registration fee each year
  2. Valpak Annual membership fee – This covers our administration costs of checking and verifying data
  3. Evidence fee – This is the cost of procuring recycling evidence notes needed to meet your obligation (not applicable for producers that place less than 5 tonnes of EEE onto the UK market)

If your business is obligated to comply with the WEEE Regulations it is likely that it is also obligated to comply with the RoHS Regulations. Visit our RoHS Compliance web page to find out more.

Businesses can drop-off household Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) for FREE treatment at one of our 70 Approved Authorised Treatment Facilities (AATFs).

We are able to recycle WEEE from:

  • retailers and distributors
  • housing associations
  • charities

We will arrange for businesses, that do not have access to local authority collection sites (DCFs), a place for them to drop-off household WEEE (B2C) material. This WEEE material will be treated for FREE.

Please call 03450 682 572 or email [email protected] for details of your nearest site and to arrange to drop-off  your material.

 

 

 

Enquiry form

If you are interested in joining our scheme, or simply wish to talk through your requirements with one of our experts, please do not hesitate to contact us today.

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Valpak has been the chosen compliance partner of Samsung for many years, taking care of our obligations in WEEE, Battery and Packaging Regulations, whilst keeping us informed of policy changes. I have been very satisfied with the service we receive from Valpak.

Samsung

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