FAQ Legislation

The legislation sets the following obligations for the Producer:

• achievement of the minimum recovery and recycling targets (set out in Annex V of Decree 49/2014);
• registration or membership to a WEEE management collective system or the establishment of an individual system ensuring the uniform WEEE collection throughout the national territory;
• registration in the EEE Register, i.e. the National Register of Producers of Electrical and Electronic Equipment, and whose registration number must be shown, within 30 days of its issuance, in the commercial documentation;
• provision of an appropriate financial guarantee: in the case of membership to a collective system the guarantee is provided by the collective system itself;
• annual communication to the EEE Register relating to the sales figures (number of units and weight of EEE placed on the market);
• affix on the EEE to be placed on the market the symbol of the crossed-out wheelie bin (shown in Annex IX of Decree 49/2014) and its own trademark, name or EEE Register registration number;
• make freely available, for each type of equipment placed on the market, information relating to the preparation for re-use and proper treatment. In order to fulfil this obligation it is possible to use the product sheets created by the CDCRAEE in collaboration with the collective systems and accessible at this link.
• make available, in the EEE’s instructions for use, information for end users relating to the end-of-life of the equipment, in particular the obligation and the methods for the separate collection of WEEE, the potential effects on the environment and on human health in the event of incorrect treatment, and the meaning of the symbol of the crossed-out wheelie bin.

The EEE Register is the National Register of Electrical and Electronic Equipment Producers to which all Producers of household and professional EEE must be registered with and declare on an annual basis their volumes placed on the market.

The Register is public and accessible at: registroaee.it.

A product falls within the scope of application when it corresponds to the definition of electrical and electronic equipment, save for some exceptions expressly mentioned by the legislation (specified in the next question). Legislative Decree 49/2014 provides in Annex III a list of the categories falling within the open scope:

• temperature exchange equipment;
• screens, monitors, and equipment containing screens having a surface greater than 100 cm2;
• luminaires;
• large equipment (with at least one external dimension greater than 50 cm);
  small equipment (with no external dimension greater than 50 cm);
• small IT and telecommunication equipment (with no external dimension greater than 50 cm).

The legislation also includes in Annex IV a list (albeit non-exhaustive) of some equipment falling within the scope of application. If you have any doubts about your products, contact us and we will provide you the necessary information.

The only equipment excluded from the legislation, and therefore not subject to it, relates to:

• equipment which is necessary for the protection of the essential interests of the national security, including arms, munitions and war material intended for specifically military purposes;
• equipment which is specifically designed, and is to be installed, as part of another type of equipment that is excluded or does not fall within the scope of application;
• incandescent lamps;
• equipment intended to be sent into space;
• large-scale industrial tools;
• large-scale fixed installations;
• vehicles approved for the transport of people or goods;
• non-road mobile machinery for professional use;
• equipment specially made for research and development purposes;
• medical devices and in vitro diagnostic medical devices if they are suspected of being infected before the end of their life cycle.

In order to ascertain if your products fall within the open scope, contact us and we will support you in this process.

Open scope means the extension of the scope of the WEEE legislation to product categories that until 15 August 2018 were excluded. Any equipment corresponding to the definition of EEE must therefore be considered subject to the legislation, unless explicitly excluded.

Legislative Decree 49/2014 lays down administrative sanctions for defaulting Producers:

• from €30,000 to €100,000 for those who do not organise a separate collection system for professional WEEE, as well as systems for the collection, treatment and recovery of WEEE and the financing of the related operations;
• from €200 to €1,000 for each equipment placed on the market without the provision of the financial guarantee required by law;
• from €2,000 to €5,000 for those who do not provide, in the EEE’s instructions for use, the information necessary to the consumer for the correct management of the EEE at the time of discarding it;
• from €5,000 to  €30,000 for those who do not provide to the treatment plants, within one year of placing the EEE on the market, the information necessary for its proper treatment;
• from €100 to €500 for each equipment placed on the market not bearing the crossed-out wheelie bin symbol;
• from €30,000 to €100,000 for those who place EEE on the market without being registered with the Chamber of Commerce;
• from €2,000 to €20,000 for those who place EEE on the market without being registered in the National Register or do not communicate the information required or inaccurately or incorrectly communicate it.

In accordance with the provisions of the legislation in force (Legislative Decree 49/2014), Distributors of household EEE must:

• guarantee the free collection of Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment at the time of sale of a new equivalent EEE as envisaged by the One-for-One take-back service;
• if the retail outlet has a sales area relating to EEE of at least 400 m², ensure the ‘One-for-Zero’ take-back service, which gives the right to the consumer to freely return small WEEE (i.e. with no external dimension greater than 25 cm) without the obligation to purchase a new product;
• inform consumers of these freely available services;
• verify, prior to the collection of WEEE, that the deposit of such waste occurs in a suitable place with sufficient room for ensuring the separation of the different groupings in compliance with the established temporal limits;
• register pre-collection storage places at Centro di Coordinamento RAEE, communicating the Points of Sale, any external storage, the Grouping Places and any intention to carry out transport on their own account or by using third party transporters;
• transport the WEEE collected, either by itself or by authorized third parties, by delivering it to Municipal Collection Facilities, Grouping Sites or appropriate treatment plants. The transport must be accompanied by the transport document (Ddt) stating the place of production, the typology of material and the place of destination;
• keep data on the weight of WEEE taken back at the point of sale, grouped and deposited selectively by type in the pre-deposit area, for three years. Furthermore, in the case of transport by the distributor, report this data annually to the Centro di Coordinamento RAEE.

The article 11 of Legislative Decree 49/2024 establishes simplified procedures for the take-back of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) by Distributors, Installers and Service Centre Managers.

In addition, Distributors may set up Grouping Sites: i.e. sites where the Distributor stores the WEEE handed in by consumers. Grouping Sites may be set up at the Distributor’s point of sale or elsewhere.

Distributors may take back, on a voluntary basis, professional WEEE only if formally appointed by the Producers of such equipment, and transport it to authorized plants indicated by the Producers.

Also in this case, as for Household WEEE, there is an obligation to register their pre-collection deposits with the WEEE Co-ordination Centre.

When an Electrical and Electronic Equipment is disposed of, it becomes WEEE in all respects and, as such, must be properly treated. In this case the consumer is entitled to take it free of charge:

A – to his municipal collection point;

B – to the retailer when purchasing a new equivalent EEE. This mode, called One-for-One take-back, applies whether the new product is purchased in the store or online. In the first case, the consumer can take advantage of the free collection service from his home or deliver the WEEE at the point of sale. In the second case, the collection of the WEEE can be made from the consumer’s home or, where provided, the consumer can deliver his WEEE to a designated Grouping Place made available by the Distributor;

C – to the retailer, with a sales area relating to EEE of at least 400 m2, even without making a new purchase. This mode, called One-for-Zero take-back, applies only to WEEE with no external dimension greater than 25 cm. This scheme can also be carried out, on a voluntary basis, for individual types of WEEE, by Retailers with sales areas of less than 400 square metres or who carry out distance selling.