| Who is obligated and thresholds | Producer status depends on what a business does, not how it sells. Manufacturers and brand owners, resellers under their own brand, professional importers and distance sellers into a Member State are all producers under Article 3(1)(f) of Directive 2012/19/EU. Distributors supplying a new product to a private household must ensure equivalent WEEE can be returned free of charge on a one-to-one basis (Article 5(2)(b)). Distributors with retail shops with an EEE sales area of at least 400 m² must offer free collection of very small WEEE (no external dimension over 25 cm), unless an assessment shows alternative schemes are likely to be at least as effective (Article 5(2)(c)). |
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| Exemptions | The Directive excludes, among other things, equipment designed for space, large-scale stationary industrial tools, non-road mobile machinery for professional use only, means of transport (except non-type-approved electric two-wheel vehicles) and equipment designed solely for research and development and made available only business-to-business. Large-scale fixed installations are excluded, but equipment not specifically designed and installed as part of one stays in scope. A reseller is not treated as the producer if the producer's brand appears on the equipment. A party that only provides financing is not a producer unless it also acts as one. |
| Registration (steps and registry) | Every party subject to an extended producer responsibility regime must register in the Registro nazionale dei produttori, set up at the Ministero dell'ambiente e della tutela del territorio e del mare, following the procedures in a ministerial decree. On registering, the producer or its authorised representative must supply the Annex X, Part A information and undertake to keep it up to date. The information includes the national identification code, EEE category, brand name, how the producer meets its responsibilities, the selling technique and a declaration that the information is true. A distance seller must register in the Member State it sells to, or through an authorised representative appointed by written mandate. |
| Reporting obligations and deadlines | Producers must submit annual information on the electrical and electronic equipment they place on the market, by category. It must also give the weight of WEEE separately collected, recycled (including prepared for re-use), recovered and disposed of, or shipped within or outside the Union. The placed-on-market and WEEE-treatment figures must be broken down by category. By 31 October each year, collective systems must send their financial statements to the register, and individual systems their management accounts. By the same date they must send a management report for the previous year. |
| PROs and compliance schemes | A producer may meet its financial responsibility for waste from its own products individually or by joining a collective scheme (Article 12(3)). A producer using a collective scheme still has to give a guarantee when placing a product on the market. It can take the form of participation in a financing scheme, a recycling insurance or a blocked bank account. Collective financing systems carry the cost of historical waste, with all producers on the market when the costs arise contributing proportionately (Article 12(4)). |
| Penalties | Under Article 22 of Directive 2012/19/EU, Member States must lay down rules on penalties for infringements of the national provisions adopted under the Directive. In Italy, a producer that fails to give treatment facilities the required information within one year of placing each new type of EEE on the market faces an administrative fine of EUR 5,000 to EUR 30,000 (Article 27 of D.Lgs. 49/2014). Placing EEE on the market without the mark required by Article 28 of D.Lgs. 49/2014 carries a fine of EUR 200 to EUR 1,000 per item. Omitting the symbol required by Article 28(5) carries a fine of EUR 100 to EUR 500 per item. |
Under Article 3(1)(f) of Directive 2012/19/EU, whether a business is a 'producer' depends on what it does, not on how it sells. Distance communication is expressly included.
A business is a producer under Article 3(1)(f)(i) if it is established in a Member State and either manufactures EEE under its own name or trademark, or has EEE designed or manufactured and markets it under its own name or trademark in that Member State.
A business established in a Member State that resells other suppliers' equipment under its own name or trademark is a producer under Article 3(1)(f)(ii). A reseller is not treated as the producer if the producer's brand appears on the equipment.
Article 3(1)(f)(iii) makes a business a producer if it is established in a Member State and, on a professional basis, places on that Member State's market EEE from a third country or from another Member State. This is the import-type route to producer status.
Under Article 3(1)(f)(iv), a business established in another Member State or in a third country is a producer if it sells EEE by distance communication directly to private households or to users other than private households in the Member State concerned.
A party that only provides financing under a finance agreement is not a producer, unless it also acts as a producer under points (i) to (iv) of Article 3(1)(f).
A 'distributor' under Article 3(1)(g) is any natural or legal person in the supply chain who makes EEE available on the market. A distributor can also be a producer at the same time.
When a distributor supplies a new product to a private household, it must ensure that equivalent WEEE can be returned to it free of charge on a one-to-one basis (Article 5(2)(b) of Directive 2012/19/EU). Member States may derogate from this rule, provided the return is not made harder and stays free of charge for the final holder.
The only quantitative threshold for operators in the retained text is for distributors with retail shops whose EEE sales area is at least 400 m². Under Article 5(2)(c) of Directive 2012/19/EU, they must provide free collection of very small WEEE (no external dimension over 25 cm), with no obligation to buy new EEE. They are exempt if an assessment shows that alternative collection schemes are likely to be at least as effective.
Under the EU Waste Framework Directive, extended producer responsibility means that producers bear financial, or financial and organisational, responsibility for managing the waste stage of a product's life cycle. Producers may meet this duty individually or by joining a collective scheme.
Article 17 of Directive 2012/19/EU allows a producer established in another Member State to appoint an authorised representative in the Member State concerned. A distance-selling producer established in one Member State that sells EEE into a Member State where it is not established must appoint an authorised representative there, by written mandate.
Article 16 of Directive 2012/19/EU requires producers to be registered in national registers. Distance sellers established in a third country must be registered in the Member State they sell to, directly or through an authorised representative.
The EU WEEE Directive excludes equipment that is specifically designed and installed as part of another type of equipment that is itself excluded from, or outside, the Directive's scope, where it can only fulfil its function as part of that equipment. Filament bulbs are also excluded.
From 15 August 2018 the EU WEEE Directive does not apply to equipment designed to be sent into space, large-scale stationary industrial tools, or non-road mobile machinery made available exclusively for professional use.
Large-scale fixed installations are excluded from the EU WEEE Directive, but any equipment not specifically designed and installed as part of such an installation stays in scope. Recital 9 gives lighting equipment and photovoltaic panels as examples.
Means of transport for persons or goods are excluded from the EU WEEE Directive, except electric two-wheel vehicles that are not type-approved, which remain in scope.
Also excluded are equipment designed solely for research and development and made available only business-to-business. Medical devices and in vitro diagnostic medical devices expected to be infective before end of life are excluded, as are active implantable medical devices.
A reseller that sells equipment under its own name or trademark is not treated as the 'producer' if the producer's brand appears on the equipment. Whoever only provides financing under a finance agreement (loan, lease, hiring or deferred sale) is not a producer unless it also acts as a producer.
In Italy, the cost-coverage principle in letter a) of paragraph 3 of the extended producer responsibility provisions does not apply to the regimes under Directives 2000/53/CE, 2006/66/CE and 2012/19/UE (the last being the WEEE Directive). A separate derogation from that principle requires prior authorisation from the Ministry of the Environment.
The Italian waste-data recording obligation exempts three groups. These are agricultural entrepreneurs under Article 2135 of the Civil Code with annual turnover of no more than EUR 8,000, and enterprises that collect and transport their own non-hazardous waste under Article 212(8). For non-hazardous waste only, it also exempts initial-producer enterprises and bodies with no more than ten employees. These are general waste-management exemptions, not WEEE-specific producer exemptions.
Italy keeps a national register called the Registro nazionale dei produttori. It is set up at the Ministero dell'ambiente e della tutela del territorio e del mare, which therefore runs it.
Every party subject to an extended producer responsibility regime must register in the Registro nazionale dei produttori. Registration follows the procedures set by a ministerial decree of the Ministro dell'ambiente e della tutela del territorio e del mare.
The register supports the supervisory and control function. The supervising body collects the data electronically in the register and checks that it is correct and comes from a proper source.
A producer whose registered office is in another EU Member State and who places products on the Italian market must appoint a legal or natural person established in Italy as its authorised representative. That representative carries out the obligations and handles the registration in the register.
Registered parties send the register data on the products they place on the national market and how they intend to meet their obligations. They also send details of the individual or collective systems they use, with the statute and supporting documentation on their project.
By 31 October each year, collective systems must send their financial statements to the register, and individual systems must send their management accounts. By the same date they must also send a management report for the previous year.
The EU WEEE Directive requires Member States to maintain a register of producers, including producers that sell by distance communication, to monitor compliance. Producers or their authorised representatives must be able to enter all relevant information on their activities online in the national register.
On registering, a producer or authorised representative must supply the information listed in Annex X, Part A of the Directive and undertake to keep it up to date. That information covers the name and address (with contact details of the represented producer where a representative is used) and the national identification code, including tax number. It also covers the EEE category, whether the equipment is household or non-household, the brand name, and how the producer meets its responsibilities (individual or collective scheme, including financial guarantee). Finally it covers the selling technique used and a declaration that the information is true.
A producer selling by distance communication must register in the Member State it sells to. If it is not registered there, it must be registered through an authorised representative.
An authorised representative must be appointed by written mandate.
Under D.Lgs. 49/2014, each producer communication must state the producer's national identification code and the reporting period it covers.
Each communication must state the EEE category and the specific EEE type, and must give the quantity of EEE placed on the national market, by weight.
On registration, the producer must supply the Annex X, Part A data under Article 16(2)(b) of Directive 2012/19/EU, and must undertake to update it as appropriate. The data includes the type of EEE, brand name, how the producer meets its responsibilities (individual or collective scheme, with information on financial guarantee) and the selling technique used.
The producer must also declare that the registration information is true.
Each producer, or its authorised representative, must provide the Annex X, Part B reporting information under Article 16(2)(c). Each must also be able to enter all relevant information on its activities online in the national register under Article 16(2)(a).
The registration and reporting format, and the frequency of reporting to the register, are to be set by Commission implementing acts under Article 16(3). The available passages do not state a specific producer filing date or frequency.
Producers selling EEE by distance communication to another Member State must be registered in the Member State they sell to. If they are not registered there, they are registered through an authorised representative, who must be appointed by written mandate.
Member States must collect data on an annual basis, including substantiated estimates, on EEE placed on the market, WEEE collected, prepared for re-use, recycled and recovered, and separately collected WEEE exported, all by weight (Article 16(4)).
Member States must send the Commission an implementation report every three years, within nine months of the end of the period covered. The first report covers 14 February 2014 to 31 December 2015.
Member State inspections must at least cover the information reported through the register of producers (Article 23(1)(a)), so reported data may be checked.
Under the WEEE Directive, a producer placing products on the market after 13 August 2005 is responsible for financing the management of waste from its own products. It may meet this obligation individually or by joining a collective scheme (Article 12(3)).
Producers may also set up and run individual or collective take-back systems for WEEE from private households, provided these are in line with the objectives of the Directive (Article 5(2)(d)).
Collective financing systems carry the cost of historical waste, meaning WEEE from products placed on the market on or before 13 August 2005. All producers on the market when the costs arise contribute to these systems proportionately, for example in proportion to their market share by type of equipment (Article 12(4)).
A producer using a collective scheme still has to give a guarantee when placing a product on the market. The guarantee shows that WEEE management will be financed. It can take the form of participation in an appropriate financing scheme, a recycling insurance or a blocked bank account (Article 12(3)).
Joining a collective scheme is reflected in producer registration. On registering, a producer must state how it meets its responsibilities, either individually or through a collective scheme, including information on its financial guarantee (Annex X, Part A, point 6).
Under D.Lgs. 152/2006, as amended, packaging EPR in Italy is governed by the Environmental Code, and producers meet their obligations through schemes such as CONAI.
A producer established in another Member State may appoint an authorised representative on the territory of the Member State concerned, by written mandate, to fulfil its obligations there. A distance seller established in one Member State and selling to another must appoint one in the destination Member State (Article 17).
Under Article 22 of Directive 2012/19/EU, Member States must set the penalties for breaches of their national WEEE rules and ensure they are enforced. The penalties must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.
The Directive also expects Member States to be able to act to recover the costs of non-compliance and of remedial measures. This is without prejudice to Directive 2004/35/EC on environmental liability.
A producer that places EEE on the market without the mark required by Article 28 of D.Lgs. 49/2014, after the deadline in Article 40(4), faces an administrative fine of EUR 200 to EUR 1,000 for each item placed on the market.
A producer that places EEE on the market without the symbol required by Article 28(5) of D.Lgs. 49/2014 faces an administrative fine of EUR 100 to EUR 500 for each item placed on the market.
Inspections that Member States must carry out cover at least the information reported through the register of producers, shipments (particularly exports of WEEE outside the Union) and operations at treatment facilities.
The costs of analyses and inspections of used EEE suspected to be WEEE, including storage costs, may be charged to producers, to third parties acting for them, or to other persons arranging the shipment.
If a shipment of used EEE lacks the required proof that the items are used EEE rather than WEEE, or lacks adequate protection against transport damage, authorities treat the items as WEEE and presume an illegal shipment. The load is then handled under Articles 24 and 25 of Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006.
Under Legislative Decree 49/2014, a business established in another EU Member State or in a third country that sells EEE on the Italian market by distance communication directly to private households or to users other than private households is a producer in Italy.
The WEEE rules apply whatever selling technique is used, including distance and electronic selling. Producers using these channels should, as far as practicable, have obligations of the same form, enforced in the same way, as other distribution channels.
Under Article 16(1) of Directive 2012/19/EU, a distance seller must be registered in the Member State it sells to. If it is not registered there itself, it must be registered through its authorised representative as referred to in Article 17(2).
Under Article 17(2) of Directive 2012/19/EU, a producer established in Italy that sells EEE by distance communication in another Member State where it is not established must appoint an authorised representative in that State, who is responsible for fulfilling the producer's obligations under the Directive on that State's territory.
Article 17(1) of the Directive lets a producer established in another Member State appoint a legal or natural person established in the host Member State as its authorised representative for that territory. This is an exception to the general expectation that producers be established in the State where they must comply.
An authorised representative must be appointed by written mandate.
Where a representative is appointed, the representative registers in the national register and supplies the registration information in Annex X, Part A, undertaking to keep it updated. The representative also provides the Annex X, Part B information, which covers reporting.
Registration must state the selling technique used, such as distance selling, and the registration data must include a declaration that the information given is truthful. It must also state whether the producer meets its responsibilities individually or through a collective scheme, including information on financial guarantees.
Producers report periodically on the equipment they place on the Italian market, by category and weight, as required by the Registro AEE rules.
Article 3(1)(f)(iv) of Directive 2012/19/EU takes the same approach. The WEEE rules apply whatever selling technique is used, including distance and electronic selling.
A producer whose registered office is in another EU Member State and who places products on the Italian market must appoint a legal or natural person established in Italy as its authorised representative. That representative carries out the obligations and handles the registration in the register. The appointment must be made by written mandate. The representative registers in the national register and supplies the Annex X, Part A information. It also supplies the Annex X, Part B reporting information.
Yes. A producer may meet its financial responsibility individually or by joining a collective scheme. A producer in a collective scheme must still give a financial guarantee when placing a product on the market. On registering, it must state whether it complies individually or collectively, including information on its financial guarantee.
Reporting covers, by category, the quantity of EEE placed on the national market by weight. It also covers the quantities of WEEE separately collected, recycled, recovered and disposed of, or shipped within or outside the Union. Each communication must state the producer's national identification code and the reporting period.
Collective systems must send their financial statements to the Italian register by 31 October each year, and individual systems their management accounts.
Yes. A business established in a Member State that resells other suppliers' equipment under its own name or trademark is a producer under Article 3(1)(f)(ii). It is not treated as the producer if the producer's brand appears on the equipment.
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This guide is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. It summarises the official legal texts listed above as of the "last verified" date; obligations may have changed since. Check the official sources or consult a qualified professional before making compliance decisions.
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