WEEE Compliance Schemes
To meet their WEEE obligations in Europe, manufacturers must arrange and fund take-back of their products. For consumer goods, this must be implemented at the retail level. For B2B products, collection must be done at the locations of business customers.
In both situations, implementation requires collection, storage, transportation and processing at an authorized recycling facility. Taken together, this process is usually called reverse logistics because it moves goods from the consumers to centralized locations for final disposition.
Even though the direction is the reverse of normal supply and distribution chains, the similarities are very great. Collection requires coordination of activities at the retail or B2B level among customers and channel operators, much like marketing and sales activities. Storage and transportation have exactly the same functions as product distribution. Disassembly and recycling are very much analogous to the manufacturing process. Finally, disposal of the separated materials is just like the low-level supply chain, but in reverse.
In some cases, the similarities make it feasible for the same functional groups inside a corporation to handle the reverse flow. Mostly this will apply to large corporations with sufficient resources to dedicate to this task. However, for smaller businesses, taking on the task of WEEE collection and processing is just not possible.
Fortunately, there are cost-effective options. WEEE collection schemes exist in every country in the European Union. These operations can and do handle the take-back obligations for thousands of businesses already. They can certainly handle yours.
Some countries require the use of a particular scheme, by law. In others, the use of schemes is optional. Whether required or not, it is an excellent way to meet obligations without learning the intricacies of WEEE collection and processing.
To make it easier to find the right WEEE scheme for your business, RoHSwell has created the WEEE Scheme Directory. This directory lists schemes by country and by WEEE category. If you like you can browse all the schemes on one page. The directory also includes pan-European schemes that operate in every EU country.
The directory is very easy to use. Click on a country name to see which schemes are operating there. Select a WEEE category to see a list of all schemes covering that category. The list also shows coverage in the other categories to make comparisons easier.
Once you have selected one or more schemes, you can contact each one for more information. The name of the system manager is a link to an online inquiry form that you can use to send a message. Check it out. Joining a scheme sure beats doing it yourself.
Additional Resources
WEEE Scheme Directory - select schemes by country or WEEE category
