Directive 2002/96/EC, as amended, on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) applies to all electrical and electronic equipment listed in Annex IA of the Directive, including, inter alia, large household appliances, small household appliances, IT and telecommunications equipment, medical devices, and monitoring and control instruments. The Directive requires that appropriate measures are taken to minimize the disposal of WEEE as unsorted municipal waste and to achieve a high level of separate collection of WEEE. All collected WEEE must be transported to authorized treatment facilities; and the collection and transport should be carried out in such a way as to optimize reuse and recycling of components or whole appliances capable of being reused or recycled. Producers, or third parties acting on their behalf, must set up systems for the treatment of WEEE using best available treatment, recovery and recycling techniques. Hospitals, Emergency departmens, ICUs and operating theaters are likely to have, from time to time, WEEE for disposal, and must ensure their collection and treatment where such collection and treatment services are available. The Directive 2002/96/EC is repealed by Directive 2012/19/EU, with effect from 15.02.2014.
The last possibility under the waste hierarchy is that waste is safely disposed of. The EU regulates the two main methods of wastedisposal, namely, landfill and incineration.
