Areas of Interest

WEEE is the Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment, i.e. all waste deriving from devices that use electricity for their operation, including all components and materials that are an integral part of the product when the decision to discard them is taken.

WEEE can be domestic, generated by households and professionals, produced by companies and by administrative and economic activities.

For EEE producers it means anyone, regardless of the sales technique used:

• manufactures and sells electrical and electronic equipment bearing its brand;
• resells equipment produced by other suppliers under its own brand;
• imports or places first, on the national market, electrical and electronic equipment as part of a professional activity and selling.

The obligations for EEE producers:

• Registration in the EEE Producers Register
• Declaration of quantities placed on the market
• Implementation of correct consumer information
• Application of the eco-contribution to the financing of the collection

If your company is one of these activities then you can fulfill your regulatory obligations by adhering to the ECOEM Consortium

By the terms “battery” and “accumulator”, Legislative Decree 188 of 20 November 2008 refers to a source of electricity obtained by direct transformation of chemical energy, consisting of one or more primary (non-rechargeable) elements or consisting of one or more secondary (rechargeable) elements.

The entire battery and accumulator compartment is divided into three types of:

• Batteries or accumulators for vehicles: batteries or accumulators used for starting, lighting and turning on;
• Industrial batteries or accumulators: batteries or accumulators exclusively for industrial or professional use, or used in any type of electric vehicle;
• Portable batteries or accumulators: batteries, button batteries, battery packs or accumulators which are sealed, are carried by hand and do not constitute industrial batteries or accumulators, batteries or accumulators for vehicles

The distinction is also made according to the composition (lithium, alcaline, zinc air, silver zinc, zinc coal, zinc chloride, lead, nickel cadmium, michel metal hydrides).

For each of these categories, separate collection is provided with processes of treatment, recycling, recovery and disposal to prevent the pollutants of which the batteries and accumulators are composed from being dispersed into the environment, damaging it and also damaging health.

The discipline defined by Legislative Decree No. 188/2008 extends the concept of Producer Responsibility, which must:

• avoid placing on the market batteries or accumulators, whether or not incorporated into appliances, containing more than 0.0005% mercury or more than 0.002% cadmium;
• in the event that it is also a Manufacturer of AEE, design its own equipment containing batteries and accumulators in such a way that they are easily removable, it must also accompany them with appropriate and simple instructions;
• inform the end user of the need to collect waste batteries and accumulators separately by applying the symbol of the “crossed-out bin” on the devices;
• register with the Register of Battery and Accumulator Manufacturers and report the registration number in invoices and transport documents.

If your company is between manufacturer/importer or brand owner then you can comply with regulatory obligations by adhering to the ECOEM Consortium

Photovoltaic modules have officially entered the WEEE field of application since April 12, 2014, for this reason the panels are to be considered to all effects of “electrical and electronic equipment” (EEE). Therefore, manufacturers of photovoltaic modules are treated in the same way as AEE manufacturers.

The Manufacturer of photovoltaic modules is:

• an Italian entity that produces photovoltaic panels in Italy and puts them on the national market selling them in that market.
• a person established in a Member State of the European Union other than Italy, which markets in Italy directly to the end-user.
• an Italian entity that buys panels from a subject established in one of the Member States of the European Union or in a third country and markets them in Italy with or without their own trademark.

The obligations for photovoltaic module manufacturers are the same as for EEE manufacturers.

The ECOEM Consortium has more than 400 member companies including over 50 of the main operators in the photovoltaic sector, which confirm the collective system’s commitment to being a professional partner for the management of photovoltaic modules at the end of life.

By adhering to ECOEM, the manufacturer/importer or distributor of photovoltaic modules fulfills the obligations provided for by the current directives and obtains the accreditation necessary for the recognition of energy account incentive tariffs as required by the GSE operating rules.