from 13 August 2012 to 14 August 2018 (transitional period), subject to paragraph 3, to EEE falling within the categories set out in Annex I. Annex II contains an indicative list of EEE which falls within the categories set out in Annex I;

from 15 August 2018, subject to paragraphs 3 and 4, to all EEE. All EEE shall be classified within the categories set out in Annex III. Annex IV contains a non-exhaustive list of EEE which falls within the categories set out in Annex III (open scope).

equipment which is necessary for the protection of the essential interests of the security of Member States, including arms, munitions and war material intended for specifically military purposes;

equipment which is specifically designed and installed as part of another type of equipment that is excluded from or does not fall within the scope of this Directive, which can fulfil its function only if it is part of that equipment;

filament bulbs.

equipment designed to be sent into space;

large-scale stationary industrial tools;

large-scale fixed installations, except any equipment which is not specifically designed and installed as part of those installations;

means of transport for persons or goods, excluding electric two-wheel vehicles which are not type-approved;

non-road mobile machinery made available exclusively for professional use;

equipment specifically designed solely for the purposes of research and development that is only made available on a business-to-business basis;

medical devices and in vitro diagnostic medical devices, where such devices are expected to be infective prior to end of life, and active implantable medical devices.

‘electrical and electronic equipment’ or ‘EEE’ means equipment which is dependent on electric currents or electromagnetic fields in order to work properly and equipment for the generation, transfer and measurement of such currents and fields and designed for use with a voltage rating not exceeding 1 000 volts for alternating current and 1 500 volts for direct current;

‘large-scale stationary industrial tools’ means a large size assembly of machines, equipment, and/or components, functioning together for a specific application, permanently installed and de-installed by professionals at a given place, and used and maintained by professionals in an industrial manufacturing facility or research and development facility;

‘large-scale fixed installation’ means a large-size combination of several types of apparatus and, where applicable, other devices, which:

‘non-road mobile machinery’ means machinery, with on-board power source, the operation of which requires either mobility or continuous or semi-continuous movement between a succession of fixed working locations while working;

‘waste electrical and electronic equipment’ or ‘WEEE’ means electrical or electronic equipment which is waste within the meaning of Article 3(1) of Directive 2008/98/EC, including all components, sub-assemblies and consumables which are part of the product at the time of discarding;

‘producer’ means any natural or legal person who, irrespective of the selling technique used, including distance communication within the meaning of Directive 97/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 1997 on the protection of consumers in respect of distance contracts ( 2 ):

Whoever exclusively provides financing under or pursuant to any finance agreement shall not be deemed to be a ‘producer’ unless he also acts as a producer within the meaning of points (i) to (iv);

‘distributor’ means any natural or legal person in the supply chain, who makes an EEE available on the market. This definition does not prevent a distributor from being, at the same time, a producer within the meaning of point (f);

‘WEEE from private households’ means WEEE which comes from private households and WEEE which comes from commercial, industrial, institutional and other sources which, because of its nature and quantity, is similar to that from private households. Waste from EEE likely to be used by both private households and users other than private households shall in any event be considered to be WEEE from private households;

‘finance agreement’ means any loan, lease, hiring or deferred sale agreement or arrangement relating to any equipment whether or not the terms of that agreement or arrangement or any collateral agreement or arrangement provide that a transfer of ownership of that equipment will or may take place;

‘making available on the market’ means any supply of a product for distribution, consumption or use on the market of a Member State in the course of a commercial activity, whether in return for payment or free of charge;

‘placing on the market’ means the first making available of a product on the market within the territory of a Member State on a professional basis;

‘removal’ means manual, mechanical, chemical or metallurgic handling with the result that hazardous substances, mixtures and components are contained in an identifiable stream or are an identifiable part of a stream within the treatment process. A substance, mixture or component is identifiable if it can be monitored to verify environmentally safe treatment;

‘medical device’ means a medical device or accessory within the meaning of, respectively, point (a) or (b) of Article 1(2) of Council Directive 93/42/EEC of 14 June 1993 concerning medical devices ( 3 ) which is EEE;

‘in vitro diagnostic medical device’ means an in vitro diagnostic device or accessory within the meaning of, respectively, point (b) or (c) of Article 1(2) of Directive 98/79/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 October 1998 on in vitro diagnostic medical devices ( 4 ) which is EEE;

‘active implantable medical device’ means an active implantable medical device within the meaning of point (c) of Article 1(2) of Council Directive 90/385/EEC of 20 June 1990 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to active implantable medical devices ( 5 ) which is EEE.

systems are set up allowing final holders and distributors to return such waste at least free of charge. Member States shall ensure the availability and accessibility of the necessary collection facilities, taking into account, in particular, the population density;

when supplying a new product, distributors are responsible for ensuring that such waste can be returned to the distributor at least free of charge on a one-to-one basis as long as the equipment is of equivalent type and has fulfilled the same functions as the supplied equipment. Member States may derogate from this provision provided that they ensure that returning the WEEE is not thereby made more difficult for the final holder and that it remains free of charge for the final holder. Member States making use of this derogation shall inform the Commission thereof;

distributors provide for the collection, at retail shops with sales areas relating to EEE of at least 400 m2, or in their immediate proximity, of very small WEEE (no external dimension more than 25 cm) free of charge to end-users and with no obligation to buy EEE of an equivalent type, unless an assessment shows that alternative existing collection schemes are likely to be at least as effective. Such assessments shall be available to the public. WEEE collected shall be properly treated in accordance with Article 8;

without prejudice to points (a), (b) and (c), producers are allowed to set up and to operate individual and/or collective take-back systems for WEEE from private households provided that these are in line with the objectives of this Directive;

having regard to national and Union health and safety standards, WEEE that presents a health and safety risk to personnel because of contamination may be refused for return under points (a), (b) and (c). Member States shall make specific arrangements for such WEEE.

received by collection and treatment facilities;

received by distributors;

separately collected by producers or third parties acting on their behalf.

achieve, from 14 August 2016, a collection rate that is lower than 45 % but higher than 40 % of the average weight of EEE placed on the market in the three preceding years; and

postpone the achievement of the collection rate referred to in the second subparagraph of paragraph 1 until a date of their own choice which shall not be later than 14 August 2021.

the requirement not to dispose of WEEE as unsorted municipal waste and to collect such WEEE separately;

the return and collection systems available to them, encouraging the coordination of information on the available collection points irrespective of the producers or other operators which have set them up;

their role in contributing to re-use, recycling and other forms of recovery of WEEE;

the potential effects on the environment and human health as a result of the presence of hazardous substances in EEE;

the meaning of the symbol shown in Annex IX.

each producer, or each authorised representative where appointed under Article 17, is registered as required and has the possibility of entering online in their national register all relevant information reflecting that producer’s activities in that Member State;

upon registering, each producer, or each authorised representative where appointed under Article 17, provides the information set out in Annex X, Part A, undertaking to update it as appropriate;

each producer, or each authorised representative where appointed under Article 17, provides the information set out in Annex X, Part B;

national registers provide links to other national registers on their website to facilitate, in all Member States, registration of producers or, where appointed under Article 17, authorised representatives.

agreements shall be enforceable;

agreements shall specify objectives with the corresponding deadlines;

agreements shall be published in the national official journal or an official document equally accessible to the public and transmitted to the Commission;

the results achieved shall be monitored regularly, reported to the competent authorities and the Commission and made available to the public under the conditions set out in the agreement;

the competent authorities shall ensure that the progress achieved under the agreement is examined;

in the case of non-compliance with the agreement, Member States must implement the relevant provisions of this Directive by legislative, regulatory or administrative measures.