Europe is making progress with its Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) regulations, but not all the countries in the European Union will be in compliance by the deadline.

 “In general, European countries are adhering to the [European] Commission’s directives,” said Geoffrey Bock, programme manager for WEEE and RoHS implementation consultancy at TUV Rheinland of North America.

He’s not alone in that assessment. In July, Perchards’ Consultancy in London reported: “Work on the transposition of European Parliament and Council directives for WEEE and RoHS are almost complete.”

The rules are simple, TUV’s Bock explained. “If an American manufacturer sells to Europe it must manufacture by the European Commission’s directives. If it sells to a country with no such directives it uses whatever it wants. If a European manufacturer is selling to a country outside the EU that does not require adherence to the use of hazardous substances, it uses what it likes.”

TUV Rheinland provides compliance engineering, testing and certification services worldwide to help companies access global markets with components built with the approved substances for the particular market.

The timetable, according to the US Mission to the European Union, states that from August 2005, companies selling electrical goods in Europe must conform to the WEEE directive, and as of July 2006, to the RoHS directive.
 
A few countries have requested an extension on WEEE. Poland was granted a two-year extension on WEEE due to its lack of recycling infrastructure and high population density, conditions that make safe collection and disposal more difficult. Also, Poland’s many sparsely settled rural areas pose a problem - how to position the disposal sites not too far from users without having to create so many.

Malta also has been granted a two-year extension for meeting the collection, recovery and reuse/recycling targets for WEEE, according to TUV’s Bock. Its reasons: lack of recycling infrastructure and the low quantities of WEEE it generates. It also points out, according to Perchards consultancy, that it is a small and geographically isolated country, with a small local market and high population density.
 
The United Kingdom, meanwhile, has long been a holdout. But it now says, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), that, “all the WEEE Directive's implementation requirements would not be met by the UK on August 13 - although the making of equipment would be.” The directive, DTI added, would be transposed into UK law sometime in 2005, while producer responsibility and take-back obligations would not be introduced until January 2006.”

With no agreement on maximum concentration values, the timeline for implementation is difficult to determine, the DTI said. The RoHS directive will, however, be complied with by next July and prohibited substances will be banned. Rumours of a “grace period” of 18 months for specific materials are unsubstantiated at the present time.

France, another holdout, finally transposed the WEEE directive into a full-fledged French decree, according to official French publications on July 22. The decree went into effect August 13. Full implementation is expected to lag slightly due to the time necessary to create a fully operational collection infrastructure.

As of July 2006, WEEE producers will be required to design products that can be easily dismantled and recycled.

The remaining 21 countries are handling the directives in a variety of ways. Austria, for example, has instructed the local government to organise free-of-charge collection. Producers will pay for take-back for retailers, consumers and local government collection points. Suppliers will take back products free of charge.

Cypress has decided that producers, as opposed to the local government, will finance collection and sorting, as well as transportation and treatment. The local government is not required to collect WEEE.

Hungary says the local government must be reimbursed by producers for collection and sorting costs. Producers must also establish and operate collection centers. One-to-one take-back by retailers, including mobile phones, will be free.

Latvia has decreed that producers who comply individually, or as members of a collective organization, will be fully exempt from a new tax they have imposed on WEEE.

Estonia has a new twist. Producers are totally responsible for financing WEEE management, but may contract this out to local contractors. Also retailers must take back any category of WEEE they sell if no industry collection point is within 10km.

Germany transposed the directive to law, but has modified the implementation timeline. As of March 24, 2006, German consumers will be able to return designated equipment to local collection points free of charge.

Europeans will have to pay in other ways, as well. The alloy of silver, copper and tin is 2.5 times more expensive than the lead-tin solder used in the past, a change expected to cost European buyers an extra one per cent to five per cent.

“A product that is going to hurt the consumer and the manufacturers is the cell phone, which contains a number of these substances. To use the required alternatives will add about $10 to the cost of each cell phone,” Bock added.

See also: Electronics Weekly's WEEE Directive and UK WEEE regulations, a roundup of content related to the WEEE Directive.