05 October 2010
DUAL USE PRODUCTS: THE NEED FOR A CLEAR AND
CONSISTENT DEFINITION
1-
BACKGROUND
The European Parliament Environment Committee has proposed that ‘dual use’ equipment
will be defined as WEEE from private households. Amendment 18, of the consolidated report
states:
(l) ‘WEEE from private households’ means WEEE which comes from private households
and from commercial, industrial, institutional and other sources which, because of its
nature and quantity, is similar to that from private households, and WEEE which may be
used as EEE by both private households and users other than private households
This paper summarises the practical challenges created by defining dual use equipment as
WEEE from private households, and recommends practical measures to overcome these
challenges.
2-
THE NEED FOR A CLEAR DEFINITION
An accurate definition of ‘dual use’ products is needed to ensure true B2B products
are not classified as dual use products. The definition proposed by the European
Parliament, which states that dual use equipment is WEEE which may be used as EEE by
both private households and users other than private households, is open to interpretation.
Potentially every item of EEE could be used in the household and therefore defined as ‘dual
use’. There are many products within WEEE that are B2B and will never enter the municipal
waste stream. Examples within the IT sector include servers, large scale printers,
networking systems and video conference suites. A definition of dual use equipment must
ensure that true B2B products continue to be defined as B2B products.
A consistent definition is needed to ensure the same definition is applied across the
EU. There is a danger that the proposed definition of dual use equipment will lead to non
harmonised definitions at Member State level increasing the administrative burden of the
Directive. Currently Member States use very different definitions to differentiate between
B2B and B2C products based on a variety of criteria. This means that for every register or
compliance scheme producers need to verify what the criteria for B2B and B2C are and this
leads to a lot of unnecessary administrative work.
DIGITALEUROPE aisbl
Rue Joseph II, 20 >> B-1000 Brussels [Belgium]
T. +32 2 609 53 10 >> F. +32 2 609 53 39
www.digitaleurope.org
>> 1 of 4
An unclear definition could lead to incorrect declarations by producers and an unfair
financial burden. If Member States do not develop a definition or criteria to define dual use
equipment, producers could incorrectly declare products leading to an unfair financial
burden. Therefore each producer must be able to consistently and transparently classify its
products as B2C, dual use or B2B based on clear rules.
Double payment for the recycling of products must be avoided. Defining ‘dual use’
equipment as B2C could lead to the double payment of recycling costs.
•
Firstly, where dual use WEEE is passed back to a producers B2B take-back programme,
the producer will pay twice for the recycling of the product; once when they placed it on
the market and once when it is returned for recycling. This issue could be avoided by
allowing producers to deduct all dual use product that is taken back through their own
takeback programs from their overall obligations
•
Secondly, where dual use WEEE is disposed of by a business customer they are likely to
either pay for this service, or recover value for the product, despite the recycling fee
having been paid by the producer as the product was placed on the market
•
Thirdly if a business customer wants to dispose of ‘dual use’ equipment at a municipal
collection facility, sometimes this is often expressly forbidden or the business customer
will be charged for the service. A robust dual use definition would help to correct this
situation. In this case we would also need to ensure that despite the recycling fee having
been paid by the producer they are not charged for take back of the product if it has
already been paid. .
Therefore classifying dual use equipment as B2C without clear criteria defining what is
outside the dual use definition or which products are clearly B2B will require Member States
to reconsider how businesses and municipalities interact in the disposal of EEE. Producers
should be able to count dual use product take back volumes against their overall take back
or in the worst case producers may need a mechanism to reclaim fees for products that they
take back themselves.
3-
RECOMMENDATION FOR DEFINITION OF DUAL USE EQUIPMENT
The criteria below provide an accurate set of rules to differentiate between dual use products
that should be declared as B2C products and dual use products that should be declared as
B2B products. These criteria were established by DIGITALEUROPE and have been adopted
by a number of Member States in their implementation of the WEEE Directive. The criteria
established by DIGITALEUROPE could be refined by the development of a definition of B2B
through comitology, as recommended in the European Commission’s proposal.
Article 2
Scope
4.
WEEE shall be classified as waste from private households or from users other
>> 2 of 4
than private households. This measure designed to amend non-essential elements of this
Directive, by supplementing it, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory
procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 18(3). This classification among others shall
be based on the intended end user of the product according to the following criteria:
1. Evidence in the form of signed contract between the business user and the
Producer (or party representing the Producer e.g. reseller under contract),
that clearly assigns responsibilities for End of life collection and treatment
costs, ensuring that the EEE will not be disposed of through municipal
waste streams, or
2. EEE that due to its features is not used in private households and that will
therefore not be disposed of through municipal waste streams. This
criterion should be supported by either one or a combination of the
following criteria:
a) EEE that is operated by specialised software as for example an operating
system or system environment requiring a special configuration for
professional use.
b) EEE operating at a voltage or having a power consumption outside of the
range available in private households
c) EEE requiring professional licenses to operate, e.g. Base Stations requiring
the license of the telecommunication regulator
d) EEE of large size or weight requiring to be installed and de-installed or
transported by specialists
e) EEE which requires a professional environment and / or professional
education (e.g. medical X-ray equipment)
f)
EEE outside of the scope of the General Product Safety Directive for
Consumer products
g) Statistics showing evidence that a particular type of EEE is not disposed
through municipal waste streams (producer to provide argumentation /
documentation)
>> 3 of 4
ABOUT DIGITALEUROPE
DIGITALEUROPE is the pre-eminent advocacy group of the European digital economy
acting on behalf of the information technology, consumer electronics and
telecommunications sectors. We are dedicated to improving the business environment, and
to promoting industry’s contribution to economic growth and social progress in the European
Union.
DIGITALEUROPE ensures industry participation in the development and implementation of
EU policies. DIGITALEUROPE’s members include 63 leading corporations and 40 national
trade associations from all the Member States of EU; altogether 10,000 companies with 2
million employees and €1,000 billion in revenues. You can learn more about our activities via
http://www.digitaleurope.org
ABOUT TECHAMERICA EUROPE
TechAmerica Europe (formerly AeA Europe) represents leading European high-tech
operations with US parentage. Collectively we invest Euro 100 bn in Europe and employ
approximately 500,000 Europeans. TechAmerica Europe Member companies are active
throughout the high-technology spectrum, from software, semiconductors and computers to
Internet technology, advanced electronics and telecommunications systems and services.
Our parent company, TechAmerica (formerly AeA and ITAA), is the oldest and largest hightech association in the US.
>> 4 of 4