The WEEE Directive is the EU law that deals with electrical and electronic products once they become waste. Its full name is Directive 2012/19/EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment, and it replaced the first WEEE Directive (2002/96/EC). It puts the cost of collecting and recycling e-waste on the companies that place the products on the market, a model known as extended producer responsibility.
Because it is a directive, each Member State turns it into national law and runs its own producer register. A brand selling in ten EU countries deals with ten sets of national rules.
Which products it covers
Since 15 August 2018 the directive has an open scope: it applies to all electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) unless Article 2 excludes it. EEE means equipment that depends on electric currents or electromagnetic fields to work and is designed for up to 1,000 volts AC or 1,500 volts DC. Annex III sorts it into six categories:
- Temperature exchange equipment, such as fridges and air conditioners
- Screens and monitors with a surface above 100 cm²
- Lamps
- Large equipment, with any external dimension above 50 cm
- Small equipment, with no external dimension above 50 cm
- Small IT and telecommunication equipment, with no external dimension above 50 cm
Exclusions include filament bulbs, equipment for military purposes, large-scale stationary industrial tools, large-scale fixed installations, means of transport (except electric two-wheel vehicles that are not type-approved) and non-road mobile machinery for professional use.
What producers have to do
A "producer" under Article 3(1)(f) is the brand that manufactures or sells equipment under its own name, the company that first places imported equipment on a national market, and any distance seller selling directly to users in a country where it is not established.
- Register in the national register of each Member State where you sell (Article 16), and report the quantities you place on the market.
- Finance collection and recycling. For products placed on the market after 13 August 2005, each producer pays for the waste from its own products, individually or through a collective scheme, and gives a financial guarantee when placing a product on the market (Article 12).
- Mark the product with the crossed-out wheeled bin (Article 14(4) and Annex IX), and with a mark showing it was placed on the market after 13 August 2005 (Article 15(2)). EN 50419 is the preferred standard for both.
- Inform recyclers. Within one year of placing a new type of equipment on the market, give treatment facilities free information on its components, materials and the location of dangerous substances (Article 15(1)).
Retailers have duties too. When selling a new product, they must take back an equivalent old one free of charge on a one-to-one basis (Article 5(2)).
Distance sellers and the authorised representative
Online sellers are a common gap. Under Article 16, a producer selling by distance communication must be registered in the Member State it sells to. If it is not registered there itself, it registers through an authorised representative. Article 17 requires a producer established in one Member State that sells directly to users in another to appoint an authorised representative there, by written mandate.
The WEEE symbol
The crossed-out wheeled bin tells users the product must not go in household waste. Under Article 14(4) it must be printed visibly, legibly and indelibly on the product. Only where the size or function of the product makes that impossible does it go on the packaging, the instructions for use and the warranty instead. Member States must also explain the symbol's meaning to consumers (Article 14(2)). For other symbols you may see on products and packaging, see recycling symbols.
Collection targets
Member States must reach a minimum collection rate each year (Article 7). From 2019 this is 65% of the average weight of equipment placed on the market in the three preceding years, or 85% of WEEE generated in that country. Producer fees and national schemes are designed around these targets.
What is changing
In July 2025 the European Commission published an evaluation of the WEEE Directive. The Commission says it will use the findings to prepare a proposal to revise the directive as part of the Circular Economy Act, which it plans to adopt in 2026. The current rules apply until a new law is adopted and takes effect.
WEEE and the Digital Product Passport
WEEE already asks producers for product-level information: identification, material and dangerous-substance data for recyclers, and disposal instructions for users. Under the ESPR, a Digital Product Passport can carry information on disassembly, substances of concern and end-of-life handling for each product. Brands that keep this data in one place can serve both obligations from the same records. Restrictions on hazardous substances in the same products are covered separately by RoHS.
How to prepare
- List every country you sell in, including through marketplaces and your own online store.
- Register in each national register, or appoint an authorised representative where you have no establishment.
- Join a compliance scheme or set up an individual system, and report quantities on time.
- Check the marking on every product: the wheeled bin and the placed-on-market mark.
- Prepare treatment information for recyclers within one year of launch, and keep it with your product data.
How Veribl helps
In Veribl you set the compliance frameworks for each market you sell in, including WEEE, and every product passport carries its own disposal and recycling instructions and warnings, so owners who scan the product see how to hand it in at end of life.
See Veribl product passportsOfficial sources
Frequently asked questions
What is the WEEE Directive?
The WEEE Directive, Directive 2012/19/EU, is the EU law on waste electrical and electronic equipment. It applies extended producer responsibility to electrical and electronic products: producers register in each Member State where they sell, finance the collection, treatment and recycling of their products as waste, mark them with the crossed-out wheeled bin and give recyclers treatment information.
What does the WEEE symbol mean?
The crossed-out wheeled bin set out in Annex IX of the WEEE Directive tells users that the product must not go in unsorted household waste and has to be collected separately. Under Article 14(4), producers must mark their equipment with it, preferably in line with EN 50419. Where the product is too small or its function does not allow it, the symbol goes on the packaging, the instructions for use and the warranty.
Which products fall under the WEEE regulations?
Since 15 August 2018 the directive has an open scope: it covers all electrical and electronic equipment designed for use with up to 1,000 volts AC or 1,500 volts DC, unless Article 2 excludes it. Products are sorted into six categories: temperature exchange equipment, screens and monitors, lamps, large equipment, small equipment, and small IT and telecommunication equipment.
Do online sellers outside a country need WEEE registration there?
Yes. A producer selling electrical and electronic equipment by distance communication directly to users in a Member State where it is not established must be registered in that Member State. Where it is not registered there itself, it registers through an authorised representative appointed by written mandate.
Is the WEEE Directive being revised?
The Commission published an evaluation of the WEEE Directive in July 2025 and says it will use the findings to prepare a proposal to revise the directive as part of the Circular Economy Act, which it plans to adopt in 2026. Until a new law is adopted and applies, Directive 2012/19/EU and the national laws that transpose it remain the rules.
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