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E-Waste, who pays?Scope & Financial Responsibility

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E-waste Matrix

• This matrix outlines the scope and financial responsibility imposed by e-waste legislation in certain keyjurisdictions1

• Includes Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, EU, India, Korea, Japan, Philippines, Taiwan and the USA

• It looks at the products covered, financing and the recycling fee for consumers where applicable

1 Current as at 28 October 2012

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  Covered products2 Producer financing Recycling fee for consumers

Argentina 

Currently no law – several bills proposed over the last few years

Bill 1433-D-2012

Large appliances, small appliances, information technology equipment, consumer electronic equipment [A/V], lighting equipment, electrical and electronic tools, toys and sport/leisure equipment, medical devices, monitoring and control instruments, automatic dispensers, batteries and accumulators.

Exclusions: products connected with national security, nuclear activity, or products that have been in contact with or contains medical waste.

Producer = any natural or legal person who manufactures and sells electrical and electronic equipment under his own brand and / or third parties, irrespective of the selling technique used

Charge by way of an environmental tax, in an amount to be determined; producers/importers operating takeback schemes will be exempt from the tax.

Argentina - Province of Buenos Aires

Law 14.321/2011

Large appliances, small appliances, information technology equipment, consumer electronic equipment [A/V], lighting equipment, electrical and electronic tools, toys and sport/leisure equipment, medical devices, monitoring and control instruments, automatic dispensers.

Exclusions: products connected with national or provincial security, nuclear activity, military products, arms, munitions, war materiel, or products that have been in contact with pathogenic wastes.

Producer = any natural or legal person, regardless of the selling technique used including distance selling and electronic means, who manufacturers and sells electrical and electronic under his own brand, resells under his own brand equipment manufactured by third parties, or professionally imports/exports such equipment. WEEE management system including takeback, transport to treatment centres.

2 This table uses generic descriptions of covered products without considering definitions in the legislation

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  Covered products2 Producer financing Recycling fee for consumers

Brazil 

Currently no law, the following information relates to a recent draft

Bill PL-2045/2011

 

Computers and peripherals including monitors, TVs, appliances containing heavy metals or toxic substances, lights, batteries

Responsibility falls on manufacturers, importers or marketers to provide takeback system and environmentally adequate disposal

Brazil – State of Sao Paulo

Law 13.576/2009

Household appliances and electronic equipment and components, for domestic, industrial, commercial or service sector including components and computer peripherals, monitors, televisions, batteries, magnetised products.

Full responsibility for disposal falls on companies that produce, sell or import products or components.

Canada – Alberta

Alberta Recycling Management Authority Electronics Recycling Bylaw, 2004

All electrical and electronic equipment or devices

Exclusions: electronics in and affixed to motor vehicles

Advanced disposal surcharge payable at time of purchase. Amounts are currently set for TVs, desktop computers including peripherals, computer monitors, laptops/notebooks and printers.

2 This table uses generic descriptions of covered products without considering definitions in the legislation

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  Covered products2 Producer financing

Canada - British Columbia

Recycling Regulation 449/2004

Small electrical or electronic appliances, large electronic or electrical appliances, electronic or electrical tools, automatic dispensers, medical devices, electronic or electrical lighting equipment, electronic or electrical IT or telecommunication devices, equipment or media, electronic or electrical toys, leisure and sports equipment, electronic and electrical monitoring and control instruments, electronic or electrical audio visual and consumer equipment or media, accessories for covered products such as cables and chargers, batteries for use in a covered product.

Exclusions: computers or TVs that are part of or attached to vehicles, marine vessels or commercial or industrial equipment, implanted medical devices.

Producer [not tires or packaging] = (i) a person who manufactures or sells, offers for sale, distributes or uses in a commercial enterprise the product in [BC] under the manufacturer’s own brand, (ii) [or] a person who is not the manufacturer of the product but is the owner or licensee of a trademark under which a product is sold, distributed or used in a commercial enterprise in [BC], whether or not the trademark is registered, or

(iii) … a person who imports the product into [BC] for sale, distribution or use in a commercial enterprise.

Producers pay an environmental handling fee on new regulated products, used to fund the environmentally sound end-of-life management.

Canada - Prince Edward Island

Materials Recycling Regulations, 2009

Televisions, computers, monitors, printers, scanners, A/V, telephones, fax machines, cell phones.

Exclusions: factory-installed devices developed for embedded use in motor vehicles.

Annual fee. Brand owners must operate stewardship program for recycling and disposal.

Brand owner = (i) manufacturer of the electronic product, (ii) distributor of the electronic product in or into the province, (iii) owner or licensee of the intellectual property rights to the electronic product, or (iv) where the electronic product is imported into the province, the first person to sell the electronic product in or into the province.

2 This table uses generic descriptions of covered products without considering definitions in the legislation

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  Covered products2 Producer financing Recycling fee for consumers

Canada – Quebec

Regulation respecting the recovery and reclamation of products by enterprises, 2011

Computers, monitors, printers, scanners, fax machines, photocopiers, cellular and satellite telephones, wireless and conventional telephones, pagers and answering machines, keyboards, mouses, cables, connectors, chargers and remote controls for covered products, video game consoles and peripherals, audio visual equipment such as projectors and amplifiers, small personal electronics such as portable digital players, digital photo frames and digital cameras, small electronic IT products such as routers, earphones, USB keys, batteries, mercury lamps.

Enterprises marketing new covered products under a brand, name or distinguishing guise must recover or reclaim products of the same type deposited at drop-off centres or collected.

Canada  - Saskatchewan

Waste Electronic Equipment Regulations, 2005

Desktop computers, notebook computers, computer monitors, mouses, keyboards, printers, televisions, audio visual equipment, vehicle audio and video systems, non-cellular telephones and answering systems.

First sellers are responsible for collection and recycling; EHF charged per product.First seller = (i) is a manufacturer, distributor, owner or licensee of intellectual property rights in electronic equipment that is sold, offered for sale or otherwise distributed into or in Saskatchewan;(ii) is a vendor of electronic equipment outside of Saskatchewan and who, as an ordinary part of his or her business, solicits and sells electronic equipment to consumers in Saskatchewan;(iii) imports electronic equipment into Saskatchewan for resale in Saskatchewan;(iv) imports parts for electronic equipment into Saskatchewan for assembly and resale in Saskatchewan; or(v) purchases electronic equipment outside of Saskatchewan for use in Saskatchewan;

2 This table uses generic descriptions of covered products without considering definitions in the legislation

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  Covered products2 Producer financing Recycling fee for consumers

China

Regulations on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment, Order No. 551, 2008

 

Televisions, refrigeration equipment, washing machines, air conditioners and microcomputers

Contribution to State Fund

European Union

Directive 2012/19/EU on WEEE (recast) 

From 15 August 2018, all EEE

Exclusions: equipment necessary for protection of national security, equipment which is part of another type of equipment that is excluded from scope which can only fulfil its function if it is part of that equipment, filament bulbs, equipment designed to be sent into space, large-scale stationary industrial tools, large-scale fixed installations, transport for persons or goods, non-road mobile machinery for professional use, equipment designed solely for R&D and made available B2B, infective medical devices and in vitro medical devices, and active implantable medical devices.

Producers responsible for financing collection, treatment, recovery and environmentally sound disposal of WEEE from their own products.

Producer = natural or legal person, irrespective of the selling technique including distance communication who is:

(i) established in a member state and manufactures or has designed or manufactured EEE under his own name or trademark

(ii) established in a member state and resells, under his own name or trademark, equipment produced by other suppliers

(iii) established in a member state and places EEE on the market from a third country or from another member state, on a professional basis

(iv) sells EEE by distance communication into a member state, and is established in a member state or a third country.

2 This table uses generic descriptions of covered products without considering definitions in the legislation

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  Covered products2 Producer financing Recycling fee for consumers

India 

E-waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011

Information technology and telecommunication equipment (computers, printers, telephones etc.) and consumer electrical and electronics (TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners)

Exclusions: batteries, centralised air conditioning plants

Producers must finance and organise a system to meet the costs involved in environmentally sound management of e-waste from its own products and historical waste as of the entry into force.

Producer = any person, irrespective of the selling technique used, who (i) manufactures and offers to sell EEE under his own brand, offers to sell under his own brand assembled EEE produced by other manufacturers or suppliers, or offers to sell imported EEE.

Korea

Resource Recycling of Electrical and Electronic Equipment and Vehicles, Act No. 8405, 2007

 

Televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, personal computers, personal audio equipment, mobile phones including chargers and batteries, printers, copiers, fax machines.

Manufacturers/importers must meet annual recycling amounts and takeback like-for-like products.

Japan

Specific Household Appliances Recycling Law, 1998

Air conditioning equipment, clothes washers and dryers, refrigerators and freezers, televisions (CRT, LCD and plasma).

Manufacturers or importers are responsible for the recycling, takeback and transportation of ewaste.

Manufacturers may charge retailers for recycling of appliances they have collected. Retailers may charge collection and recycling fees to consumers.

2 This table uses generic descriptions of covered products without considering definitions in the legislation

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  Covered products2 Producer financing Recycling fee for consumers

Philippines 

Currently no law, the following relates to the draft Senate Bill

Bill 246/2010

Computers, peripherals, fax machines, DVD players, VCRs and video display devices (TV or computer monitors including laptop computers over 9 inches)

Exclusions: video display devices that are: part of a motor vehicle, part of a larger piece of equipment, designed and intended for use in industrial, commercial etc. setting, part of monitoring and control equipment, contained within an appliance; telephones.

Payment of registration fee. Manufacturers must recycle or arrange for collection and recycling of covered electronic devices, quantity based on amount of display devices sold to households during previous program year

Taiwan

Announcement on Responsibility of Manufacturers and Importers regarding Recycling, Clearance and Disposal of Articles and Containers, 2003

Televisions, washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioners and heaters, electric fans, computers.

Manufacturers or importers are responsible for recycling, clearance and disposal fees.

USA

No federal legislation, 25 states have enacted legislation

 

Scope of most states’ laws is limited to computer equipment, monitors and televisions.

Most states except California, usually includes an annual registration fee payable by the producer/manufacturer.

California: consumers pay electronic waste recycling fee on purchase of covered products

2 This table uses generic descriptions of covered products without considering definitions in the legislation

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