WEEE Directive: Open Scope Effective as of August 15, 2018

Businesses affected by the WEEE Directive 2012/19/EU have to adapt to considerable changes in the near future: starting August 15, 2018, all EEE within the scope of the Directive has to be classified according to the so-called ‘open scope’.

Firstly, the 10 current EEE categories will be replaced by six new categories listed in Annex III of the WEEE Directive. As of the open scope period, any equipment that falls under the definition of EEE as set out in Article 3 (1) (a), is in scope.

Secondly, several national compliance schemes and authorities in various EU countries are already working on a new structure that will consequently affect:
– Registration categories (i.e., registration adjustments needed)
– Declaration categories (i.e., several sub-categories)
– Price lists of compliance schemes

As we know today, the requirements vary in the different EU Member States. Thus, the producers will continue to face complex WEEE fulfilment obligations due to the lack of harmonization (i.e. several sub-categories) amongst the different national compliance schemes.

Want to learn more about the open scope and the implementation status in the EU countries? 1cc offers a next webinar reference to WEEE Open Scope in September 2018. Exact webinar date will be published on our website soon.