The European Commission has proposed amendments the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive because of concerns about the financing of non-household historical waste.

Worries about the consequences of this article were raised when the directive was published, and the European Parliament, Council of Ministers and Commission issued a joint statement that they would address the matter urgently.

The concern is that firms which sold large amounts of electronic and electrical equipment to non-domestic users before the directive entered into force and then suffered loss of sales, will face an extremely heavy financial burden.

The Commission has proposed shifting this burden from producers to suppliers of replacement equipment. If the equipment is not replaced the final user would be liable to pay.

Further information:

Directive 2002/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 2003 on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), is available from

http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/dat/2003/l_037/l_03720030213en00240038.pdf

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