Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)
TA-9-2023-0392 · P9_TA(2023)0392 · PE746.823
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Parliament's amended version of the Commission proposal to amend Directive 2012/19/EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). It adds recitals on legal certainty, retroactive effects, photovoltaic panel treatment and consumer costs, and requires the Commission to assess a revision of the Directive by 31 December 2026.¶¶¶ The assessment must cover legal certainty, the waste hierarchy, the polluter pays principle, enforcement and collection targets, and a new 'photovoltaic panels' category with collection targets based on projected lifetime.¶ It changes financing rules for historical waste other than photovoltaic panels, and sets the deadline for member states to comply at 18 months after entry into force.¶¶¶
Key points
- A new recital states that a member state adopting legislation contrary to an EU directive before that directive was adopted is not in itself a breach of EU law.¶
- A new recital calls for preventing provisions with unjustified retroactive effects in future revisions, giving clarity to EEE producers on operating conditions when products were placed on the market.¶
- A new recital calls for environmentally sound management of waste photovoltaic panels and open scope WEEE, and says member states may encourage producers to collect and treat historical WEEE.¶
- A new recital says the costs of managing WEEE should not be disproportionately transferred to consumers or citizens, taking into account the polluter pays principle and the waste hierarchy.¶
- A new Article 2a requires the Commission to assess the need for a revision of the Directive by 31 December 2026 and, where appropriate, present a legislative proposal with a socio-economic and environmental impact assessment.¶
- The impact assessment must cover legal certainty and retroactive effects, the waste hierarchy, disproportionate costs for citizens and consumers, enforcement and collection targets, and illegal trade of WEEE.
- The impact assessment must also cover creating a new 'photovoltaic panels' category, separating them from WEEE category 4 'large equipment', and calculating collection targets on waste photovoltaic panels available for collection based on projected lifetime.
- Article 13(1) is amended so that financing of historical WEEE other than photovoltaic panels, when replaced by equivalent products, is provided by producers of those products when supplying them; member states may make users other than private households partly or totally responsible.¶
- For other historical waste resulting from EEE other than photovoltaic panels, the financing of costs is provided by users other than private households.¶
- Member states must bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the Directive by 18 months after entry into force at the latest, and communicate the text to the Commission.¶
Who is affected
- Member states, which must transpose the amended Directive within 18 months of entry into force.¶
- Producers of electrical and electronic equipment, who finance historical WEEE when supplying replacement products.¶
- Users other than private households, who may be made responsible for financing historical WEEE.¶
- The Commission, which must assess the need for a revision by 31 December 2026 and possibly propose legislation.¶
Figures and deadlines
- 31 December 2026: deadline for the Commission to assess the need for a revision of the Directive.¶
- 13 August 2012: date for waste photovoltaic panels placed on the market before which financial obligations change.¶
- 15 August 2018: date for open scope EEE placed on the market before which financial obligations change.
- 18 months after entry into force: deadline for member states to comply with the Directive.¶