The Agency has said that they will need to obtain a notification from the Competent Authorities involved, such as exporters and port authorities, for consent prior to the export/import. WEEE cannot be imported or exported using old codes.
The change has come about due to an amendment to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal. The amendment aims to address the need for better regulation of WEEE shipments, with the intention to help protect human health and the environment.
The EA has said that WEEE will be classified under the new waste shipment codes and exporters must ensure that any waste that will arrive in the destination country after 1 January 2025 is correctly coded and notified.
Steve Molyneux, deputy director of waste and resources regulation at the Environment Agency, said: “These changes will help ensure that exported Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment is managed in an environmentally sound manner throughout shipment and during recycling.
“We encourage interested parties to review the changes and prepare for when legislation is in place on 1 January 2025.”
The new codes do not cover components or fractions of whole WEEE (WEEE-derived waste) that are currently covered by specific codes and meet the required specification for those codes.
If you want to learn more about WEEE and associated changes within the sector, please register your interest for our WEEE Conference, taking place on 12 March 2025 in London, here.
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