FAQs

Answering common compliance questions

Legislative Decree No. 49/2014 came into force on 12 April 2014 and replaced Legislative Decree No. 151/2005. The decree governs the WEEE system, which has been active since 18 February 2008.

The decree establishes measures and provides procedures to protect environmental and human health by avoiding and reducing negative impacts arising from the development and production of EEE and related WEEE.

Producers of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), through individual or compliance schemes must achieve minimum targets for collection and recycling set by the European Directive which includes:

  • 80% and 75% for large appliances and vending machines
  • 75% and 65%, for ICT (Information and Communication Technology) equipment and consumer electronics
  • 70% and 50%, for small appliances, lighting fixtures, electrical tools, toys, monitoring and control equipment
  • 80% for light sources

Until 31 December 2015, the EU Directive set a target to achieve a WEEE separate waste collection average rate from private households of at least 4 kg per inhabitant per year.

According to art. 4, letter. e) of the Legislative Decree No. 49/2014, WEEE is:

“Waste electrical and electronic equipment” or “WEEE”, which means electrical and electronic equipment which is waste according to Article 183, paragraph 1, letter a) of Legislative Decree of 3 April 2006, No. 152. It includes all components, subassemblies and consumables which are part of the product which the owner discards, or has the intention or requirement to discard.

Until 14 August 2018, all electrical and electronic equipment belonging to the following categories:

  1. Large household appliances
  2. Small household appliances
  3. IT and telecommunications equipment
  4. Consumer equipment and solar panels
  5. Lighting equipment
  6. Electrical and electronic tools (except large fixed industrial tools)
  7. Toys and equipment for leisure and sports
  8. Medical devices (with the exception of implanted or infected products)
  9. Monitoring and control equipment
  10. Vending Machines

The producer, the individual or legal entity, whatever their method of selling including distance communication:

  1. established in the country and manufactures EEE under their own name or brand, or commissions the design or manufacture of EEE and sells it on the national market under their name or brand;
  2. established in the country and sells equipment produced by other suppliers on the national market under their name or brand; the retailer is not considered as the “producer” if the equipment carries the brand belonging to the producer in number 1);
  3. established in the country and places EEE from another EU member state or non-EU country on the market during normal business;
  4. established in another EU member state or non-EU country and sells EEE on the national market via distance selling techniques directly to domestic customers or other users.

Distributors (including retailers), i.e. the individual or legal entity who makes EEE available in the market through a supply chain.

The distributors’ obligation of free product pick-up “one to one” is governed by Article 11 of Legislative Decree No. 49/2014.

  • According to Art. 28 of Legislative Decree No. 49/2014, producers must label electrical and electronic equipment placed on the market. The marking must unequivocally identify the EEE producer.

Article 38 of Legislative Decree No. 49/2014 lists the following main administrative sanctions for the Producer who does not:

  • Register with the National Register (www.registroaee.it): from €2,000 to €20,000;
  • Organise a system of separate waste collection of WEEE from €30,000 to €100,000;
  • Report sales volumes to the National Register: from €5,000 to €20,000;
  • Provide information on the WEEE system in product instructions: from €2,000 to €5,000;
  • Mark upon the equipment the “crossed bin” symbol: from €100 to €500 for each device;
  • Provide a financial warranty for any new equipment placed on the market: from €200 to €1,000 for each device.

A distributor who does not pick-up, free of charge, a WEEE product, (and if the act is not a criminal offence), can be fined from €150 to €400 for each uncollected device or collected in return for payment.

Household appliance producers should share, in proportion to their market share, the actual costs incurred for the management of household waste (B2C WEEE). Typically, this is waste delivered to municipal collection points by domestic users.

According to paragraph 2 of art. 8 of Legislative Decree No. 49/2014, the companies fulfil their obligations under the provisions of this Legislative Decree through the management of individual or compliance schemes, operating consistently throughout the country.

Producers with registered office in another EU Member State may, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 4, paragraph 1, letter g) of numbers from 1) to 3), appoint an authorised representative. They may appoint, with written authorisation, a legal entity established within Italy or an individual as the legal representative of a company established within Italy, who shall be responsible for fulfilling the producer’s obligations, according to this decree.

ERP Italy offers an authorised legal representation service to all foreign producers who do not have a legal representative in Italy. It fulfils several services, including:

  • EEE Register Registration;
  • Provision of information required in Attachment X of the Legislative Decree No. 49/2014 and its update (annual statements of products placed on the Italian market);
  • The authorised representative is responsible for organising the collection of equivalent one-to-one WEEE for Producers who are classified as online sellers (distance sellers) all over the country.

Legislative Decree No. 151/2005 lists the following institutions:

The National Register of entities obliged to finance the WEEE management systems was established and made operational under Regulation of 25 September 2007 No. 185, and guarantees the collection and maintenance of information necessary to verify compliance with the requirements set out in the Legislative Decree No. 49/2014 and the proper treatment of WEEE.

Before they begin operations within the domestic market, producers have to enrol with the National Register. After registration, an identification number from the registry entry will be issued by the National Register and should be used on all commercial documents within 30 days.

The Coordination Centre (CdC RAEE), functions as a consortium and a legal identity under private law. The consortium is made up of all WEEE management compliance schemes serving private households and two appointees from the Ministry of Environment and Protection of Land and Sea and the Ministry of Economic Development.

The Coordination Centre (CdC RAEE) is funded and managed by Compliance Schemes, and is responsible for coordinating them to:

  • Ensure a consistent service for collection and the treatment of WEEE throughout the country;
  • Fairly assign WEEE generated by the Collection Points to compliance schemes, so that they can manage their own WEEE share under similar operating conditions;
  • To be a single operator for collection points so that they have access to an Internet portal for registration, collection of applications and a dedicated call centre;
  • Represent compliance schemes to stakeholders (Ministry, ANCI, and Distribution Associations).

For more information visit www.cdcraee.it

The Supervisory and Control Committee is an institution created by Article 15 of Legislative Decree No. 151/05. Its main functions are:

  • Prepare and update the National Register based on Chambers of Commerce communications;
  • Collect data on products placed on the market and the financial warranty that producers are required to report to the National Register;
  • Calculate the producers’ market shares;
  • Plan and arrange inspections of producers that do not supply the required information;
  • Ensure that equipment placed on the market after 13 August 2005 carries the producer’s ID and the symbol referred to in Attachment IX (..);
  • Ensure the monitoring of the enforcement of this decree.

The Steering Committee supports the Supervision and Control Committee. Its duties are to:

  • Monitor the operation, logistics functionality and cost-effectiveness of the WEEE management system;
  • Act as a reference point for stakeholders’ interests;
  • Coordinate between the stakeholders’ interests (…);
  • Report annually to the Ministry of the Environment about compliance scheme trends for WEEE recovery and recycling.

Since 2009, with the enactment of Legislative Decree No. 188/08, which implemented the European Directive No. 1006/66, a legislation similar to that of WEEE applies to all types of Waste from portable, automotive and industrial Batteries and Accumulators.

The EU Battery Directive obliges battery producers to fund the collection and recycling of exhausted batteries.