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The Legislative Decree 49/2014 arises from the transposition of Directive 2012/19/EU which, in order to protect the environment and human health, defines the measures and procedures necessary for the improvement, prevention and reduction of the negative impacts deriving from the production of Electrical and Electronic Equipment and associated waste, both from households and businesses.

Related to the Decree there are some Ministerial Decrees which define its implementation aspects. Below are listed the most significant ones for Producers:

  • Financial guarantees Decree – Ministerial Decree No. 68 of 9 March 2017

The Decree on financial guarantees regulates the ways in which EEE Producers must provide the financial guarantees, applicable only for WEEE from private households, while professional WEEE is not subject to this provision;

  • Rates Decree – Ministerial Decree of 17 June 2016
    The Ministerial Decree “Rates for covering the charges deriving from the waste management system for electrical and electronic equipment” establishes the charges and payment methods for covering the operating costs of the Supervisory and Control Committee, of the WEEE Steering Committee, of the activities performed by ISPRA for monitoring the WEEE collection rates and recovery targets, as well as for the keeping of the WEEE Register and the inspections activities by the Guardia di Finanza (Financial Police);
  • ‘One-for-Zero’ Decree – Ministerial Decree No. 121 of 31 May 2016
    Ministerial Decree No. 121 regulates the simplified procedures for the take-back by Distributors of small sized WEEE from households, free of charge and without the obligation to purchase an equivalent product;
  • ‘One-for-One’ Decree – Ministerial Decree 65/2010
    Ministerial Decree 65/2010 provides guidelines for the free ‘One-for-One’ take-back of WEEE coming from private households by Distributors, EEE installers and operators of assistance centres for such equipment. This Decree ensures the free take-back of the old equipment when purchasing an equivalent product.

Open Scope

As from 15 August 2018, Legislative Decree 49/2014 has introduces a wider scope of application (open scope) that significantly expands the categories of products subject to the EEE legislation.

Before 15 August 2018, the scope was considered ‘closed’, or limited to specific categories expressly indicated by the legislation.
With the open scope approach, any electrical and electronic equipment, corresponding to the definition given in the Decree, is to be considered subject to the legislation, except for explicit exclusions.

The open scope also introduces a new classification of equipment, according to which products are no longer identified on the basis of their type, but according to size.

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