All requirements - labels, registration and the establishment of a recycling network - associated with the European Union's Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive is on a country-by-country basis. While many countries have delayed implementation, labeling for each country went into effect on August 13, 2005. However, there is still a lot of confusion in the industry about what needs to be labeled. This includes determining if a product is classified as a WEEE product and where to place the label.
The WEEE directive requires that the product must be marked with a Do Not Landfill mark, date code, and name of producer. TAC (Technical Adaptation Committee) and the Cenelec standards body created the graphical, which is the crossed out wheel bin with a bar underneath it that indicates that the product was placed on the market after August 13, 2005.
Though the labeling requirements have been finalized for some time, there are proposals on the table requesting modifications to the requirements, but these have not yet been approved.
Although Cenelec wrote the draft for the European labeling standard (EN 50419), the European Commission announced earlier this year that they had problems with specific wording because it was not consistent with the WEEE directive. Despite this disagreement, it was published as a final standard by the United Kingdom at an international standards level, said Debbie Cote, principal, Pittiglio Rabin Todd & McGrath (PRTM).
A revised standard with the required amendment proposed by the European Commission is expected to be available by the end of this year.
What needs to be labeled?
One of the key WEEE issues that companies are struggling with is what needs to be labeled, said Robert Chinn, partner, at PRTM.
The WEEE directive clearly defines what electrical equipment is. What is less clear is which of those electrical equipment needs to be labeled, Chinn said. "We've come across different companies that are approaching it in various ways. Some are labeling only at the finished goods level, where they place a label on the back of the product, while other companies label not only the main box or enclosure, but also subassemblies within the box and the cabling. These are two extremes."
The WEEE directive explicitly says that the product needs to be labeled according to the standard, in this case the U.K. standard, so whatever functional reason it cannot fit on the product then it must be labeled on the fixed power cord, if they have one, and the warranty card and the user manual and guide, Cote explained. "What we find is that companies are doing one or the other, or two of the three, but not all three of them," she said.
In other words, if you can't fit the label on your product for whatever reason, perhaps it's a Bluetooth headset which is really too small to fit a label and there is no fixed power cord, the label needs be on the warranty card and in the user manual and guide, Cote reiterates.
If the label fits on the product itself, it does not have to be on those other items. "I think a lot of companies are confused about how to label accessories, cable harnesses and power supplies that support the electronic equipment," she added.
PRTM has been working with a number of organizations to get clarification on this issue. The company typically recommends that if the device is detachable or is an external piece of electronics equipment, such as an external power supply or detachable cable harness then label it.
What about a subassembly? According to PRTM it does not have to be labeled. It will just be an additional cost.
Still, there are gray area products where a particular product may or may not function as EEE but their associated products are covered by the directive so the question is do you label them or not. PRTM's approach is conservative. The company suggests that until the dust settles around labeling requirements, if there are any questions, label it.
A good example is a mobile phone with a car charger. Does it fall under WEEE or the End of Life Vehicle (ELV) directive. Cote said two different law firms have ruled on this in two different ways: one says mark it and the other says don't mark it.
"We went to different countries and got different answers from them. Until the dust settles, take a more conservative approach. It's pennies on the dollar. As long as you make it part of your manufacturing process then it's really quite inexpensive so why would you risk the penalties and fines for such a cheap label," Cote said.
Placed on the market contributes to the confusion
If a product has transferred title into an EU country with the intent to distribute it's considered placed on the market. For example, if a company has product sitting in Germany prior to August 13, 2005 and it's sold into France in October 2005 it shouldn't have to be marked. Why? Because the laws weren't enacted until August 13, and the material was already in the market with the intent to distribute, which means the title transfer had already taken place, Cote explained.
However, the confusion comes into play when some companies say it's the act of selling to the end customer that constitutes when it needs to be labeled. This means some companies are labeling current inventories already in Europe [prior to August 13] which is a very conservative approach, Cote said.
"Companies are questioning whether they need to label everything in all European countries or at the first transfer of title," Cote explained.
So does placed on the market mean it's the first time title transfers to a legal entity in a European country or is it point of sale? PRTM maintains that it is the first time it transfers title.
Another challenge that has arisen over the past several weeks centers on WEEE registration. Some countries are requiring an in-country address for an entity to register. "If you don't have one then your company isn't allowed to registrar so the burden will likely shift to your distributor," Cote said.
But this isn't the case in all EU member states. Some countries will allow a company to registrar even if it doesn't have a legal entity in their country because the producer is the responsible company for recycling. For instance, countries such as Ireland do not allow a company to registrar with them unless it has an in-country address, yet countries like Luxemburg say it doesn't matter.
China WEEE poses more problems ahead
Currently, the WEEE draft legislation in China doesn't appear to mesh with the EU's WEEE directive, although there are heavy-duty lobbying efforts going on to change this.
China has quite a few onerous and burdensome labeling requirements that are not exactly harmonized with the EU WEEE, and it looks like China has developed an entirely new labeling scheme, Cote said.
As an example, the initial draft legislation calls for a company to label its products with an expiration date along with whether the product is recyclable, partially recyclable or not recyclable instead of the crossed out wheel bin, Cote said. "This would not be a very good approach for industry; it's not business friendly."
On a more positive note, Federal legislation in the U.S. is expected to be in line with the EU WEEE directive. However, there may be one major difference between the EU WEEE and the U.S. version. In Europe, the producer pays for recycling. As it stands today, the U.S. is a hybrid (state-by-state) model with regards to who pays, although Federal legislation is being developed.
