Producer Responsibility Initiatives – technical support to the EPA for enforcement of the WEEE Regulations (B2B producers)

In Ireland, the Producer Responsibility Initiatives (PRIs) for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and batteries are underpinned by two sets of regulations - the European Union (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Regulations 2014 (S.I. No. 149 of 2014), and the European Union (Batteries and Accumulators) Regulations 2014 (S.I. No. 283 of 2014). The Producer Responsibility team in the Office of Environmental Enforcement (OEE) is responsible for the enforcement of many aspects of these regulations. Producers of electrical and electronic equipment are divided between those that supply products to private households, known as business-to-consumer (B2C) producers, and those that supply to users other-than-private households referred to as business-to-business (B2B) producers. All producers must register with the national producer registration body, Producer Register Limited (PRL). They must also report on a monthly basis to the ‘WEEE Blackbox’ system the types and quantities of relevant EEE products that they are placing on the market in Ireland. To achieve compliance with their remaining legal obligations under the WEEE regulations, B2C producers can choose to either self-comply or to join one of the national compliance schemes, WEEE Ireland or ERP Ireland. B2B producers can only self-comply with the regulations. Battery producers can either self-comply or join a compliance scheme. The EPA is directly responsible for enforcement of B2B producer obligations. Self-complying B2B producers must submit WEEE Waste Management Plans and Reports to the EPA. A plan is required every three years while a report is required annually. Producers use an online web form to submit their plans and reports. The webform is accessed via the EPA’s EDEN portal. The submissions are received and processed by the EPA using Microsoft Dynamics CRM software. A Waste Management Plan sets out how the producer intends to meet its obligations over a subsequent 3-year period to finance the take-back and management of WEEE arising from EEE that it has placed on the market in Ireland. A Waste Management Report provides information to the EPA on the quantities of WEEE that were taken back and managed by the producer in the previous year. In particular, the producer must report the destination and fate of the WEEE taken back and demonstrate fulfilment of applicable recovery and recycling targets. This information is used in national waste reporting and also in Ireland’s national reporting to the EU Commission so the accuracy of the data in the submissions is critical. After submission, the plans and reports are assessed for adequacy and accuracy before they can be approved by the EPA. The verified data is then forwarded for inclusion in reports as outlined above. An annual audit campaign of a selected number (approx. 60) B2B producers is also carried out. These audits are a very useful way of verifying the adequacy of submissions but are also used to check compliance generally in the sector. Assessing plans and reports and the implementation of the annual audit campaign goes on throughout the year and requires continual communication and dialogue with stakeholders as well as with statutory bodies such the Producer Register Ltd., the compliance schemes and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, where required. The EPA intends to appoint a contractor to provide support services to the EPA for enforcement of the WEEE regulations as they apply to B2B producers including assessment of submissions, audit campaigns and provision of compliance guidance and assistance to the producers.