WEEE waste categories
The Directive divides Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment into 10 categories of appliances and devices, such as:
Large household | Small household | IT & telecommunications | Consumer | Lighting | Electrical & electronic tools | Toys, leisure & sports equipment | Medical devices | Monitoring & control equipment | Automatic dispensers
WEEE category 1: Large household appliances
- Large cooling appliances
- Refrigerators
- Freezers
- Other large appliances used for refrigeration, conservation and storage of food
- Washing machines
- Clothes dryers
- Dish washers
- Cookers
- Electric stoves
- Electric hot plates
- Microwaves
- Other large appliances used for cooking and other processing of food
- Electric heating appliances
- Electric radiators
- Other large appliances for heating rooms, beds, seating furniture
- Electric fans
- Air conditioners
- Other fanning, exhaust ventilation and conditioning equipment
WEEE category 2: Small household appliances
- Vacuum cleaners
- Carpet sweepers
- Other appliances for cleaning
- Appliances used for sewing, knitting, weaving and other processing for textiles
- Irons and other appliances for ironing, mangling and other care of clothing
- Toasters
- Fryers
- Grinders, coffee machines and equipment for opening or sealing containers or packages
- Electric knives
- Appliances for hair-cutting, hair drying, tooth brushing, shaving, massage and other body care appliances
- Clocks, watches and equipment for the purpose of measuring, indicating or registering time
- Scales
WEEE category 3: IT and telecommunications equipment
Centralised data processing:
- Mainframes
- Minicomputers
- Printer units
Personal computing:
- Personal computers (CPU, mouse, screen and keyboard included)
- Lap-top computers (CPU, mouse, screen and keyboard included)
- Note-book computers
- Note-pad computers
- Printers
- Copying equipment
- Electrical and electronic typewriters
- Pocket and desk calculators
- Other products and equipment for the collection, storage, processing, presentation or communication of information by electronic means
- User terminals and systems
- Facsimile
- Telex
- Telephones
- Pay telephones
- Cordless telephones
- Cellular telephones
- Answering systems
- Other products or equipment of transmitting sound, images or other information by telecommunications
WEEE category 4: Consumer equipment
- Radio sets
- Television sets
- Video cameras
- Video recorders
- Hi-fi recorders
- Audio amplifiers
- Musical instruments
- Other products or equipment for the purpose of recording or reproducing sound or images, including signals or other technologies for the distribution of sound and image than by telecommunications
WEEE category 5: Lighting equipment
- Luminaries for fluorescent lamps with the exception of luminaries in households
- Straight fluorescent lamps
- Compact fluorescent lamps
- High intensity discharge lamps, including pressure sodium lamps and metal halide lamps
- Low pressure sodium lamps
- Other lighting or equipment for the purpose of spreading or controlling light with the exception of filament bulbs
WEEE category 6: Electrical and electronic tools
- Drills
- Saws
- Sewing machines
- Equipment for turning, milling, sanding, grinding, sawing, cutting, shearing, drilling, making holes, punching, folding, bending or similar processing of wood, metal and other materials
- Tools for riveting, nailing or screwing or removing rivets, nails, screws or similar uses
- Tools for welding, soldering or similar use
- Equipment for spraying, spreading, dispersing or other treatment of liquid or gaseous substances by other means
- Tools for mowing or other gardening activities
WEEE category 7: Toys, leisure and sports equipment
- Electric trains or car racing sets
- Hand-held video game consoles
- Video games
- Computers for biking, diving, running, rowing, etc.
- Sports equipment with electric or electronic components
- Coin slot machines
WEEE category 8: Medical devices
- Radiotherapy equipment
- Cardiology
- Dialysis
- Pulmonary ventilators
- Nuclear medicine
- Laboratory equipment for in-vitro diagnosis
- Analysers
- Freezers
- Fertilization tests
- Other appliances for detecting, preventing, monitoring, treating, alleviating illness, injury or disability
WEEE category 9: Monitoring and control equipment
- Smoke detector
- Heating regulators
- Thermostats
- Measuring, weighing or adjusting appliances for household or as laboratory equipment
- Other monitoring and control instruments used in industrial installations
WEEE category 10: Automatic dispensers
- Automatic dispensers for hot drinks
- Automatic dispensers for hot or cold bottles or cans
- Automatic dispensers for solid products
- Automatic dispensers for money
- All appliances which deliver automatically all kind of products
If you produce or sell any of the above products you have a responsibility to provide a sufficient system for when the product becomes redundant for it to be collected and disposed of safely.
If you are a producer or manufacture of Electrical and Electronic Equipment then you are financially responsible for the collection, treatment, disposal and recovery of all WEEE waste they produce or replace with new EEE, with the amount calculated by the amount of WEEE waste produced.
If you are a distributor or retailer of Electrical and Electronic Equipment then you have to provide a sufficient take-back scheme or nominate a third party to carry out this role for you, free of charge to the end user, i.e. consumers who buy your products.
Tags: Recycling, WEEE Directive, WEEE, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment, EEE, WEEE Waste, WEEE waste collection centres, WEEE collection and treatment, WEEE recycling, WEEE distributor take back scheme, WEEE Producer Compliance Scheme
