WEEE Register news

EPA Prosecutes Passax Electronics Limited under the WEEE Regulations

WEEE Register — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:00:00 +0100

06 January 2010: On 05 January 2010 Passax Electronics Limited, Unit 7 Mulvoy Commercial Centre, Sean Mulvoy Road, Galway, Co. Galway, pleaded guilty to charges brought by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in relation to five offences under the Waste Management (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) (WEEE) Regulations 2005, as amended.

At Galway District Court Judge Mary Fahy heard the case and the company admitted breaching the Regulations by:

� Placing electrical and electronic equipment on the market at a time when the company was not registered as a producer of such equipment.

� Failing to apply to the producer registration body for registration or renewal of registration.

� Failing to declare the quantities, by weight or number of units, of electrical and electronic equipment placed on the market.

On hearing details of the offences Judge Mary Fahy imposed a fine of �1,000 for the first offence, taking the other offences into account, and awarded costs of �3,000 to the EPA.

Commenting on the prosecution Dr Gerry Byrne, Programme Manager, EPA said �This is the seventh prosecution taken by the EPA for breaches of the WEEE Regulations, and the fifth such prosecution for failure to comply with producer obligations. The WEEE Regulations are based on the principle of producer responsibility and it is important that those companies putting electrical and electronic equipment on the Irish market fulfil their obligations to ensure that the resulting waste electrical and electronic equipment is properly managed so as to protect the environment and human health�. Dr Byrne further commented �Unregistered producers must not be allowed to put compliant producers at a competitive disadvantage, particularly given the trading challenges faced by all players in the current economic conditions�.

Successful Prosecution by EPA.

WEEE Register — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:00:00 +0100

The EPA has successfully prosecuted a non-compliant producer for failure to comply with its responsibilities under the WEEE Regulations.

The five charges brought against the company related to failure to register or renew registration, placing EEE on the market while not registered, and failure to report to the WEEE Blackbox EEE it had put on the market.

Please click on the following link to read the EPA�s press-release.

http://www.epa.ie/whatwedo/enforce/prosecute/name,24762,en.html

vEMC Review May 2008

WEEE Register — Thu, 29 May 2008 12:00:00 +0100

WEEE Register approves revised visible Environmental Management Costs for waste electrical and electronic equipment.

The WEEE Register today (May 29^th 2008) announced that it had completed a review of the visible Environmental Management Costs (vEMCs) which had applied since October 1^st 2007.

During the course of its review the WEEE Register invited submissions from producers of electrical and electronic equipment through the two collective compliance schemes WEEE Ireland Ltd. and European Recycling Platform (ERP). Following careful consideration of those submissions, and having consulted further with the compliance schemes, the Register is pleased to confirm it has approved revised vEMCs to apply from 1^st June next.

The next in depth review will take place within 12 months and will take full account of recycling costs incurred, and take back rates achieved over the period since August 2005.

Under regulations made by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the producers of electrical and electronic equipment are required to ensure the responsible management of waste arising from such equipment. A large volume of this equipment already exists and it must be dealt with as its useful life expires. Current producers will be responsible for this waste as it arises and are allowed to display the cost of the environmentally sound management of historic WEEE when selling new EEE products. This is known as the visible Environmental Management Cost (vEMC) and must be clearly displayed by retailers.

WEEE Register Society visible Environmental Management Costs Effective June 1st 2008

	*Categories*	*vEMCs from 01 Oct. 2007*	*vEMCs from 01 Jun. 2008*

1.1	Refrigeration (side by side/American style))	30.00	30.00
1.2	Refrigeration (larder & under/over appliances)	20.00	20.00
1.2a	Refrigeration (below 150 litres)	10.00	10.00
1.3	Large Appliances	5.00	5.00
1.4	Medium Appliances	2.00	0.00
1.5	Other Appliances	0.50	0.00
2.1	Floor Care	1.00	0.00
2.2	Other SHA	0.50	0.00
2.3	Miscellaneous SHA	0.00	0.00
2.4	Clocks and Watches	0.00	0.00
4.1	Large Colour Televisions	12.00	8.00
4.2	Medium Size Colour Televisions	8.00	5.00
4.3	Small Size Colour Televisions	4.00	2.00
4.4	Medium Size Consumer Products	0.50	0.00
4.5	Small Consumer Products	0.00	0.00
4.6	Miscellaneous Minor Items	0.00	0.00
5.1	Lamps -- Non CFLS	0.50	0.25
5.1a	Lamps -- CFLS	0.50	0.00
5.2	Luminaires	0.00	0.00
6	All Electrical Equipment	1.00	0.00

vEMC Review 2008

WEEE Register — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 12:00:00 +0100

The Committee of Management decided at its last meeting to carry out a further review of visible environmental management costs.

This review will commence on December 1^stand between that date and December 21^st producers and compliance schemes are invited to make submissions for consideration addressed to:

Mr. Michael Regan,

WEEE Blackbox,

Deloitte & Touche,

Deloitte & Touche House,

Earlsfort Terrace,

Dublin 2

Throughout next January the submissions will be examined and after its meeting on January 25^th the Committee will issue its recommendations.

It is planned that any new visible environmental management costs will be announced on February 29^th next for implementation at retail level on April 1^st 2008.

2008 APPLICATION FORM NOW AVAILABLE.

WEEE Register — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 12:00:00 +0100

Re-register before 31st January 2008.

2008 Fees are based on your EEE turnover.

Registration Fees for 2008

WEEE Register — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 12:00:00 +0100

Committe of Management announces registration fees for 2008 will remain unchanged.

vEMC Review Update

WEEE Register — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 12:00:00 +0100

Further to our email of the 21^st of August last, we are unable to forward details of the new Visible Environmental Management Cost today.

We would hope to be in a position to do this by close of business on Tuesday.

vEMC Review

WEEE Register — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 12:00:00 +0100

The Committee of Management has almost completed its current review of visible environmental management costs.

The new rates will apply from October 1st 2007 and the Committee will notify all producers of these rates during week ending Friday 7th September 2007.

Review of Environmental Management Costs

WEEE Register — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 12:00:00 +0100

The Committee of Management is currently reviewing the environmental management costs (vEMCs) which have applied from August and October 2006. During the course of this review it has consulted with the two producer compliance schemes WEEE Ireland & ERP.

2007 APPLICATION FORM NOW AVAILABLE

WEEE Register — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 12:00:00 +0100

Re-register before 31st January 2007.

2007 Fees are based on your EEE turnover.

To download the 2007 Application Form

Producer Compliance Checklist

WEEE Register — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 12:00:00 +0100

The WEEE Register Society Ltd is here to assist their registered producers as much as possible. For your convenience we have issued this checklist to help you along the required stages of compliance with the WEEE Regulations. Please review the checklist below carefully.

WEEE REGISTER SOCIETY COMPLIANCE CHECKLIST

1. Establish if you are considered a producer under the definition of �Producer�.

Apply for registration with the WEEE Register Society Ltd.
Pay the correct registration fee.
The WEEE Register will issue you with a registration certificate and a unique five digit registration number.
Display this registration number on Invoice, delivery dockets, credit notes etc�
Automatically you will receive, by email your Username and Password from the WEEE Blackbox.
Receive and complete WEEE Blackbox Historical Data Spreadsheet.
Submit monthly data to WEEE Blackbox including weights and units of EEE products you placed on the Irish market.
Re-register by 31st January 2006, and annually from that date.

2. Determine if your EEE products are classed as B2B (Business to Business) or B2C (Business to Consumer).

A. If you have established you are B2C you need to join a compliance scheme, either;

ERP (European Recycling Platform)
Ph/Fax: 01 4953889
Email: ireland@erp-recycling.org
Web: www.erp-recycling.org
WEEE Ireland
Ph: 01 2999320
Email: info@weeeireland.ie
Web: www.weeeireland.ie

Apply and receive scheme membership.
Pay monthly invoice, which is based on your monthly data submission to the WEEE Blackbox.

B. If your EEE products are B2B, you can either join a compliance scheme or self comply.
If you wish to join a compliance scheme you can join either ERP or WEEE Ireland. If this option is not open to you, you can self comply.

Requirements for B2B self compliance are;

Collect or provide for the collection of your proportion of WEEE arising from WEEE placed onto the market prior to 13th August 2005, which is dependent on your current market share. The market share target is provided by WEEE Register Society Ireland - Black Box Function.
Ensure that any collection point and recovery facility carrying out the treatment of WEEE complies with the technical requirements as set out in the Sixth Schedule (Article 20).
Adhere to the obligations for the treatment requirements of WEEE (Article 21).
Achieve specified recovery rates depending upon the category and type of the WEEE arising (Article 22) and to maintain documentary evidence of progress on these targets. Producers can obtain this documentary evidence from their waste management contractors.
Maintain and keep records of all treatment and recovery data, including specific weights in and out of treatment facilities, for a period of at least 6 years (Article 23).
Prepare a WEEE waste management plan* and provide it to the EPA, at least once every three years (Article 24).
Producers are obliged to inform waste management facilities of the appropriate re-use and treatment information for the products it places on the market after August 13th 2005, including a list of dangerous substances and the location of such substances in each product (Articles 25 & 26).
Producers are also obligated to mark their product with the appropriate marking identifying that the producer of the EEE has registered with the Registration Body in accordance with their terms and conditions (Article 27 & Ninth Schedule).
Producers must not use design features or production processes that make it difficult to reuse or treat the WEEE unless such designs have overriding environmental and/or health and safety advantages (Article 40).
Obligations under Article 41 on the Reuse of EEE.

WEEE arising from sources other than households - Business to Business (B2B) WEEE - Articles 17 & 18 a. From the 13th August 2005, each producer (or someone acting on his/her behalf) must finance the environmentally sound management of WEEE arising from B2B customers as follows:

i. For historic B2B WEEE (equipment placed on the market prior to the 13th August 2005 that is now waste), the producer is obliged to take back WEEE of a similar type and function (irrespective of brand) when a business end user is purchasing new equipment from him/her. The producer is then responsible for the collection and environmental management of the WEEE.
If the business end user is simply discarding the WEEE and not replacing it, the responsibility for ensuring the environmentally sound management of the WEEE remains with the business end user. An appropriately licensed and permitted waste management operator must be used to transport and manage the waste in both scenarios.

ii. For new WEEE (equipment placed on the market after the 13th August 2005 that will become waste), the producer must take back and manage WEEE from the business end user or make alternative financing arrangements with the business user i.e. there must be a formal agreement between both parties on how and who will finance the management of the WEEE. The WEEE must be transported and managed by appropriately licensed and permitted waste management operators.

*Note: As in B2B, i.e. - the end user is commercial, Article 24(10) regarding the display of visible environmental management costs via self-compliance do not apply.

*Note: WEEE Environmental Management Plan

Submit 1 Hard Copy
Signed by Senior Management
Send to: E.P.A Headquarters

Fao: Fiona McCoole

P.O. Box 3000

Johnstown Castle Estate

Co. Wexford

Submit 1 Electronic Copy to: weee@epa.ie

If you need any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us.

WEEE Register Society Ltd
Suite 509
8 Dawson Street

Dublin 2

Phone: 00353 (0) 1 2409320/1

Fax: 00353 (0) 1 2409342

E: info@weeeregister.ie

W: www.weeeregister.ie

This checklist document was set up by the WEEE Register to help you comply with the WEEE Regulations and is meant for guidance only.