The Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE Directive) sets criteria for the collection, treatment, recycling and recovery of waste electrical and electronic equipment. It is due to come into force in August 2005, for the original 15 Member States, and in August 2007 for the 10 new Member States.
A further EU law, the Directive on the Restriction of the Use of Hazardous Substances (RoHS Directive) facilitates the dismantling and recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment by restricting the use of hazardous substances used in their manufacture. It is due to be in force from 1st July 2006.
Member States were supposed to have implementing legislation for both Directives in place by August 2004, but only Greece complied. The UK missed the deadline, blaming its delay on difficulties in publishing the draft regulations and guidance notes, but promised to have the necessary laws in place by October last year.
These have been further delayed, and last week the DTI published an open letter advising that it could no longer meet the implementation deadline of 13th August because of "major practical difficulties".
"The Government has received many representations from businesses and others saying more time should be taken on the practical implementation in order to get it right. Several other major EU Member states now appear to be planning their practical implementations on a similar, deferred timetable," says the letter.
According to the new timetable, Regulations implementing the RoHS Directive will be ready shortly, while Regulations implementing the WEEE Directive will not be available until the summer.
Key parts of the WEEE Regulations, including the producer responsibility obligations for household and non-household WEEE and the retailer/distributor take back obligations, will not come into force until January 2006, says the letter.
According to reports, the delay has been welcomed by industry. Dr Philip Morton, of the Recycling Electrical Producers Industry Consortium, which had been lobbying for a delay, told ZDNet News:
"There are a number of important issues that still need to be resolved. Premature implementation of the Directive would have led to higher costs for consumers and put UK jobs at risk; we now have an opportunity to find solutions that work for everyone".