FEATURE FOCUS: MACHINERY
MAKE SURE YOUR MACHINERY COMPLIES WITH WEEE
producer to dispose of the WEEE on behalf of the end user. (2)The end user takes responsibility for
the disposal of the WEEE. If a commercial agreement is entered
by Paul Taylor, head of industrial products (UK), TÜV SÜD T
he Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive
2012/19/EU sets collection, recycling and recovery targets for electronic equipment placed on the market. Many businesses who sell and use machinery may assume that the WEEE Directive does not apply to them, as three of the Directive’s exclusions include: large-scale stationary tools, large-scale fixed installations, non-road mobile machinery made available exclusively for professional use. According to the Directive, large-scale
stationary industrial tools are defined as: “a large-scale assembly of machines, equipment, and/or components, functioning together for a specific application, permanently installed and de-installed by professionals at a given place, and used and maintained by professionals in an industrial manufacturing facility or research and development facility”. Large scale fixed installations are
defined as: “a large–size combination of several types of apparatus and, where applicable, other devices which: (a) are assembled, installed and de-
installed by professionals (b) are intended to be used
permanently as part of a building or a structure at a pre-defined and dedicated location; and (c) can only be replaced by the same
specifically designed equipment”. Non-road mobile machinery is defined
12 FEBRUARY 2019 | FACTORY EQUIPMENT
by the Directive as: “machinery, with an on-board power source, the operation of which requires either mobility or continuous or semi-continuous movement between a succession of fixed working locations while working”. However, not all machinery is covered
by these exclusions as smaller industrial equipment, including luminaires and electrical and electronic tools such as spraying or cutting equipment, does in fact still fall under the WEEE Directive. The WEEE Directives regulations place
specific obligations on producers of non- household EEE when it is discarded as waste by non-household end users in the European Union. As with household WEEE, the producer of commercial EEE equipment must finance its collection, treatment, recovery and environmentally sound disposal when it is discarded. However, the Directive does give
business a little more flexibility than that experienced in the consumer WEEE market. This is because producers of the equipment and its end users are allowed to make their own contractual arrangements for the appropriate disposal of WEEE, and are not bound by the default arrangements required within the Directive for household waste. This means that two routes can be
chosen for the correct collection, treatment, recovery and disposal of unwanted EEE: (1) A commercial agreement for the
Machinery end users, builders and suppliers must ascertain if their equipment falls within the scope of the WEEE Directive
into for the producer to dispose of the WEEE on behalf of the end user, they must report the relevant data to their Producer Compliance Scheme (PCS). However, if the agreement is for the end user to be responsible for the WEEE, the Directive places no obligations about the nature of these arrangements, and consequently there is no requirement for either party to report data to the agencies. However, both parties must ensure they have documented proof that such an agreement has been reached, and the business end-user is also obliged to comply with the Regulations by ensuring the satisfactory collection, treatment, recovery and environmentally sound disposal of the WEEE. Original producers of EEE are allowed to
take two routes for the collection of waste. The first is for the direct collection of WEEE from end-users. The second route is the creation of central collection points, where the WEEE can be returned by the end user for treatment, reuse and recycling. As non-household end users of EEE do not have a legal right to collection of WEEE from their own premises, or the right of free access to the Designated Collection Facilities (DCF) network, it is likely that the option of a centralised collection point will be most efficient and cost effective for both producers and end users. Of course, some local authorities accept WEEE from small businesses for which there is normally a charge for this ‘trade waste’. Compliance with the WEEE Directive
TÜV SÜD www.tuv-
sud.co.uk T: +44 (0) 1489 558 100
can be complex, so machinery end users, builders and suppliers must ascertain if their equipment falls within its scope, and if so ensure that it is recycled and treated appropriately.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54