.You are a producer under the WEEE Directive if you:
If you are a producer you will need to join a Producer Compliance Scheme that has been approved by one of the environment agencies. Producers must apply to join an approved Producer Compliance Scheme on or before 15 October in the year immediately preceding the next annual compliance period (1 January – 31 December). Where a producer puts EEE on the market after this date, the Producer must join a scheme within 28 days of the date that he puts, or forms the intention on putting, EEE on the market within the UK. Registration will involve the completion of a data form, the payment of a fee and the supply of data in respect of EEE placed on the market on a quarterly basis. There is no minimum company size: the regulations apply to all producers whatever their turnover, market share or number of employees. Businesses that only place non-household EEE on the UK market must still join a Compliance Scheme.
Since 1 April 2007, producers have had to mark EEE with a crossed out wheeled bin symbol, a producer identifier mark and a date mark.
View our WEEE factsheet for Producers(.PDF 177Kb).
View a list of registered producers in the UK which appears on the Environment Agency website. The list will periodically be updated. Northern Ireland based producers may be identified by performing a search based on address or postcode.
Producer Compliance Schemes can apply for approval from 2 January 2007. Some scheme operators will only want to cover non-household EEE, others may seek producers from a particular sector, and there are likely to be several that will be open to any producer. The environment agencies have up to 28 days from receipt of an application to determine it.
A copy of the Producer Compliance Scheme application form and guidance (.PDF 269Kb) can be found on the Environment Agency's website. A list of approved schemes also appears on the Scottish Environment Protection Agency website for all the UK. The list will periodically be updated.
When a producer joins a Compliance Scheme they will be asked for data on the types and quantity of EEE placed on the UK market during the relevant compliance periods. The information on household EEE will enable the environment agencies to calculate that producer's market share, and in turn, the market share of their Producer Compliance Scheme. The environment agencies will also receive quarterly reports from the Schemes to confirm how much WEEE has been collected from Designated Collection Facilities (mostly council civic amenity sites) and how much new EEE has been placed on the market. This data will be used to calculate each Scheme's financial responsibility for treating and recycling household WEEE.
To show they've met their treatment and recycling obligations, Producer Compliance Schemes will need to provide evidence to the environment agencies at the end of each compliance period. The evidence will come from Approved Authorised Treatment Facilities (AATFs) and Approved Exporters (AEs) of WEEE.