02 October 2018

New WEEE regulations (UE Directive)

Some important regulatory changes are about to come into force in Europe concerning the management of electrical and electronic equipment at the end of their life (aka: WEEE: Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment).

As from 14 August 2018, all equipment that requires electrical current for correct operation will be included in the scope of Legislative Decree no. 49 of 2014 (national implementation of the WEEE/EU Directive).

All of this involves a real revolution in the world of electrical and electromechanical equipment. In addition to the equipment included so far (e.g. large and small household appliances, consumer and telecommunication electronics, power tools, sports and leisure equipment, etc.) the following will also be included:

  1. door entry monitors
  2. video surveillance (video camera and video recorders)
  3. equipment and systems for home automation
  4. alarm equipment and systems (fire protection, etc.)
  5. anti-intrusion equipment and systems
  6. access control equipment and systems.

The distributor/installer who sells equipment to the home user should inform the user about the possibility of requesting/taking advantage of the free collection of the equivalent old equipment.

The seller/distributor who operates via on-line sales is subject to the same obligations regarding information, without which the sales contract is null and void (Legislative decree 49/2014, art. 22, para.3).

To sum up, the following cases may occur when new equipment is sold:

  • The distributor/installer who supplies a “domestic” appliance must, if the user so requests, collect the old equivalent appliance and transport it to a municipal collection point in accordance with art. 11 of Legislative Decree 49/2014.
  • The distributor/installer who supplies a “professional” appliance must, if the user so requests, collect the old equivalent appliance and transport it to the collection points set up by the manufacturers, or request its collection by the manufacturer using the service mechanisms set up by the manufacturers themselves (see below).

If the user so requests, professional equipment sold after August 14 2018 must be collected free of charge at the end of its life even in the absence of a new simultaneous sale of an equivalent product.

In all cases, in order to collect the old equipment, as well as to temporarily deposit it at their headquarters, both for domestic and professional products, the distributor/installer who sells the new product must first register it in a special section of the Register of Waste Managers (category 3 BIS).

The responsibility for the correct recovery and recycling of WEEE will lie with the manufacturers, who will take over the collection of the DOMESTIC WEEE products from the municipal collection points and the collection of the PROFESSIONAL WEEE products from the premises of the user or installer of the products themselves.

Comelit Group spa has been committed for years to achieving environmental objectives for the benefit of the entire community, through the design and environmentally sustainable manufacture of its products, so from August 14, 2018 it will also ensure the proper recycling of such equipment.

To this end, Comelit Group spa has joined the Ecoped consortium, which specialises in managing the end of life of electrical equipment.

Since 2006, the Consortium has guaranteed the achievement of recovery objectives, environmental protection during all operations of management of electrical and electronic waste, the prevention of dispersion of pollutants into the environment, the maximisation of the recovery of raw materials and the minimisation of costs in order to ensure effectiveness and efficiency for the benefit of products and users.

Comelit Group spa will send the consortium the requests received from customers for the management of WEEE and the consortium will verify the conditions for collection.