Finding the way through the WEEE maze
Although compliance to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive does not commence until 1 July, there are other deadlines the channel needs to be aware of. Laura Hailstone looks at the information vendors and VARs should know
Channel players who are classified as producers under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive have just three days left to register with an approved Producer Compliance Scheme (PCS) to meet the 15 March deadline set by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
But what exactly is a producer and how do channel players fit in?
Virtually all manufacturers of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) are classified as producers under the regulations. However, where a vendor does not have a presence in the UK, but its products are sold in the UK, someone else will be classified as a producer. This is where a lot of resellers and distributors may be caught out. For example, a distributor or reseller who imports an LCD TV from an unknown Korean manufacturer into the UK and places it on the market will be classified as the producer.
It also works the other way around – if a reseller or distributor is exporting EEE into other European member states, even if it is via internet sales or mail order, they can be classified as the producer if the vendor does not have a presence in that country.
Also, any UK business selling under its own brand, even if the EEE has been manufactured by another firm, is also classed as the producer. This includes system builders and OEMs.
What remains unclear at the moment is if there is more than one distributor or reseller bringing a product into or out of the UK, who is responsible for registering as the producer? Is it the first company to place that product onto the market? And who is responsible for that product at the end of its life? As CRN went to press this week, the DTI was still unable to answer this.
The two main categories of EEE covered by the WEEE regulations that relate to the channel are Category 3: IT and Telecommunications Equipment and Category 4: Consumer Equipment.
For those that are still unsure if their products fall under the remit of the WEEE directive, the Environment Agency (EA) determines WEEE as equipment that is dependent on electric currents or electromagnetic fields in order to work properly, or equipment for the generation, transfer and measurement of such currents. ‘Dependent’ means that the equipment needs electricity (for example, not petrol or gas) as its primary energy. The regulations do not apply to products that can fulfil their main purpose without electricity.
If channel players are producers, what is the next step? Under the WEEE regulations, from 1 July producers will be responsible for paying for the treatment and recycling of products at the end of their life.
Producers must sign up to one of the 37 approved PCSs by 15 March. PCSs will help producers meet the requirements of WEEE by collecting and recycling products. A full list of PCSs can be found here.
As part of the registration process, producers will need to pay a registration fee to the compliance scheme they want to join and supply data on how much EEE they placed onto the market in 2006. They may be charged a membership fee, which the individual schemes will decide on.
Each compliance scheme will then have until 31 March to register its members with the EA, who will issue each producer with a producer registration number. The producer will need to give this registration number to anyone who distributes or sells its products, including resellers.
The WEEE regulations differentiate between EEE sold to consumers and EEE sold to businesses. Producers that handle both consumer and business EEE can either join one PCS for household EEE and another for non-household EEE or one that covers both. However, producers cannot change from one scheme to another during the course of a single compliance period. The first WEEE compliance period will run from 1 July to 31 December. Each subsequent compliance period will run from 1 January to 31 December thereafter.
However, choosing one of the 37 PCSs can be tricky, according to Jon Godfrey, managing director of Life Cycle Services. Three PCSs specifically handle IT and telecoms WEEE, but these might not necessarily be the most suitable schemes for channel players to join, Godfrey warned.
“There are some really big, well-established companies that have set themselves up as PCSs, but there are also some smaller, unknown ones that I am concerned about,” he said. “I’m not sure how financially viable it is for a PCS to just concentrate on one category of WEEE. Producers need to be wary. The last thing they want is to join a PCS that folds.”
However, Godfrey believes there may be protection for producers in the eventuality that a PCS does go under.
IT recycling, re-marketing and disposal firm Technical Asset Management (TAM), in conjunction with the Professional Computing Association (PCA) and Marsh insurance, has formed the Electric PCS.
Kevin Riches, managing director of TAM, told CRN: “Our scheme is focused on the IT and telecoms category. We have 15 years experience in the IT sector and our scheme will help to generate revenue for producers. We’ll help producers comply from an administrative perspective, but we’ll also teach them where and how they can generate service-type revenues.
“A lot of PCSs won’t be interested in having small resellers and PC builders join them, whereas through our association with the PCA, a lot of the smaller guys can come on board.”
Another PCS that is only handling IT and telecoms WEEE is Recycle Telecom, set up by waste transfer specialist West One Technology. Kern Judge, managing director of West One and Recycle Telecom, said: “We became involved in the recycling of telecoms in 2000. Through our scheme we are going to ensure that there is revenue produced from the WEEE for producers. What producers need to do now is understand their obligations and work out which of the products they handle will actually fall under WEEE.”
Judge predicts that there will be a rush of producers scrambling to sign up to a PCS over the next few days.
Hewlett-Packard (HP) has signed up to a pan-European PCS called ERP. Kirstie Mcintyre, environmental take-back compliance manager at HP, told CRN: “There is no other pan-European compliance scheme; ERP has been operational for two years and covers nine countries. So rather than have to deal with separate PCSs in every country we operate in across Europe, ERP covers us for nine.”
Ralph Clayton, purchasing manager at Steljes Trade, the distribution arm of Steljes, said: “We will be a producer for some products. We’re just going through the different PCSs now. An obvious question to consider is how long the companies behind the PCSs have been around for.”
Clayton felt the short timeframe to make a decision is bad planning on the government’s part.
“The timescale is so compressed now,” he said. “It was originally due to be implemented in July 2005 and now two years on its all having to be condensed into a few months. The DTI only published the WEEE Guidelines on 28 February, which is tight considering we’re expected to sign up to a PCS by 15 March. We are working hard to meet the 15 March deadline, but there is still quite a bit of confusion.”
Riches also felt that the deadline of 15 March should be extended.
A representative for the EA, told CRN: “The deadlines are set by the DTI so it is a matter for the DTI as to whether the deadline can be extended. We put the list of all the names of companies who had applied to become a PCS on our web site at the end of January. This gave producers an idea of what the potential approved schemes would be.”
Asked what will happen if a producer misses the 15 March deadline, the representative said: “If a producer doesn’t join a PCS by 15 March then technically it would be an offence and if it came to our attention we would have to look into it. We would allow for a certain amount of leniency. However, if a producer deliberately avoided signing up to a PCS then it could be prosecuted.
“We understand that some producers might not be aware of their responsibilities under the regulations. But where we know that they knowingly avoided registering we would take action. At the moment, the type of prosecution is still being decided on, but it would most likely be a fine.”
He added that it would be up to the individual PCSs as to whether they accepted producer registrations after 15 March.
Riches said TAM would still register companies right up to 1 July.
Simon Evetts, operations manager at distributor Midwich, said: “We met with the EA and they felt we may be a producer for four of the products we distribute, but didn’t mention anything to us about joining a PCS by 15 March – this is news to me. We have tried to clarify our position as to whether we are a producer or not, but are still confused. The EA is not pushing us to do anything and don’t seem concerned about it so we’re not overly concerned either.”
See CRN next week for more information on the WEEE directive.
>> Further reading:
Contacts:
Electric (01707) 333 555
ERP UK (0845) 600 1409
Recycle Telecom (01992) 710 777