The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive) is a European Union law numbered 2012/19/EU. It focuses on managing waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). Along with the RoHS Directive 2011/65/EU, it became law in February 2003. The WEEE Directive established goals for collecting, recycling, and recovering all types of electrical products. By 2009, at least 4 kilograms (9 pounds) of electrical waste per person in the European Union had to be recycled each year. The RoHS Directive limited the materials that European manufacturers could use in new electronic products sold in the market.

The European Council uses a symbol to represent waste electrical and electronic equipment. This symbol shows a crossed-out wheelie bin with or without a single black line beneath it. The black line means the product was sold after 2005, when the Directive began. Products without the black line were made between 2002 and 2005. These older products are called "historic WEEE" and are not eligible for reimbursement through programs that help companies meet recycling requirements.

The black line (or bar) comes from Directive 2012/19/EU, which refers to the European standard EN 50419. This standard provides two ways to mark equipment made after August 13, 2005: either adding the manufacturing date to the label or placing a line/bar beneath the bin logo.

Directive revisions

The directive was first created in 2002 (Directive 2002/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 2003). It has had some small changes over time, including updates in 2006 and 2009.

After nine years, the directive was not meeting some of its goals, so the rules were changed again. On 20 December 2011, the European Parliament and the European Council agreed to update the directive. This change needed approval from the European Parliament and Council, which happened on 19 January 2012.

The updates include a new way to calculate collection rates. Previously, the rate was 4 kg (9 lb) per person per year. To help countries adjust, the old method will be used for the first four years after the new rules take effect. Starting in the fifth year, the collection rate will be based on 45% of the weight of electrical and electronic products sold. After seven years, each EU member state will choose its own method for collecting waste.

The main goal was for the EU to recycle at least 85% of electrical and electronic waste by 2016.

Member state implementation

The directive requires manufacturers and distributors of electrical and electronic equipment to manage the disposal of waste from such products. These companies must create systems to collect used equipment, ensuring that people who use these items in their homes can return them for free. The directive led to the creation of national programs that companies join. These programs charge companies an annual fee to help collect and recycle electronic waste from household recycling centers.

Amending acts and secondary legislation

Directive 2012/19/EU from the European Parliament and Council, passed on July 4, 2012, about waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), has replaced Directive 2002/96/EC. Additional rules and laws have been created to help countries follow this directive properly.

One example is Commission Decision 2005/369/EC, made on May 3, 2005, which set rules for checking if countries are following the law and created standard formats for data related to Directive 2002/96/EC on WEEE. Another rule, Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/699 from April 18, 2017, provided a shared method for calculating the weight of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) sold in each country and the weight of WEEE produced in each country. Additionally, Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/2193, issued on December 17, 2019, established rules for calculating, checking, and reporting data, as well as standard formats for data related to Directive 2012/19/EU on WEEE.

Categorisations of WEEE

Annex II of Directive 2012/19/EU provides an example list of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) that matches the categories described in Annex I. Starting in 2019, all EEE must be grouped into six product categories listed in Annex III. These categories are:

• Equipment used for temperature control, such as heaters or air conditioners.
• Screens, monitors, and devices with screens larger than 100 cm in size.
• Lighting equipment, such as lamps.
• Large equipment (any size larger than 50 cm), including household appliances, IT and communication devices, consumer products, lighting equipment, sound or image reproduction tools, musical instruments, electrical tools, toys, sports equipment, medical devices, monitoring tools, automatic dispensers, and equipment that generates electricity. This category does not include items in categories 1 to 3.
• Small equipment (no size larger than 50 cm), including household appliances, consumer products, lighting equipment, sound or image reproduction tools, musical instruments, electrical tools, toys, sports equipment, medical devices, monitoring tools, automatic dispensers, and electricity-generating equipment. This category does not include items in categories 1 to 3 or 6.
• Small IT and communication equipment (no size larger than 50 cm).

UK implementation

Before the WEEE directive was introduced in the UK, old electronic devices were thrown away with regular household trash. After the Hazardous Waste Regulations were created, some electrical and electronic equipment is no longer considered hazardous. Hazardous waste is listed in the European Waste Catalogue, which uses six-digit numbers divided into three groups. An asterisk at the end of a number shows that the waste is hazardous. Examples of hazardous electronic waste include:

• Uninterruptible power supplies and lead-acid batteries
• Cathode-ray tubes (used in televisions and computer monitors)
• Fluorescent tubes, laptop screen backlights, and thin-film transistors
• Electrical/electronic equipment containing polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)
• Fridges and freezers, because they contain chlorofluorocarbon (CFC), a chemical that harms the ozone layer. Since 2012, all refrigerants are classified as hazardous.

WEEE sent to household waste recycling centers (HWRC), also called designated collection facilities (DCFs), is collected by approved treatment facilities (AATFs). The waste is then weighed and sorted according to the directive.

After recycling, the total amounts of each type of WEEE are reported to the producer compliance scheme, and the reprocessor is paid based on the amounts. The Environment Agency collects and reports totals of obligated WEEE from all AATFs to the EU every three months.

In the past, problems occurred with producer compliance schemes because of "double counting," where the same WEEE was reported twice. This happened when WEEE was partially treated by one AATF before being passed to another AATF for further processing. Both facilities claimed credit for the same waste, creating a "net debt" for the waste.

Other laws that apply include:
– The Environmental Protection (Duty of Care) Regulations 1991
– Hazardous Waste Regulations (England & Wales) 2005
– Waste Framework Directive, or Directive 2008/98/EC

WEEE management follows the waste hierarchy, which focuses on reducing waste, reusing equipment, and recycling materials: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. In January 2012, the European Parliament discussed changes to the WEEE Directive, including higher recycling targets. The updated directive now requires 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of WEEE to be recycled per person each year, up from 4 kilograms (9 pounds) previously.

In April 2005, the Royal Society of Arts in the UK (with Canon) created a 7-meter-tall sculpture called "WEEE Man" on London's South Bank. It was made from 3.3 tonnes of old electronics, the average amount of electrical waste one UK person produces in a lifetime. The sculpture was designed by Paul Bonomini and made by Stage One Creative Services. It later moved to the Eden Project in Cornwall as part of a UK tour.