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EU Regulatory Update: New Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)

Client Alert | 1 min read | 08.09.12

EU Member States have until February 14, 2014 to implement into their national laws the new WEEE Directive 2012/19/EU which was recently published in the Official Journal.

The new WEEE Directive introduces significant changes to Directive 2002/96/EC to improve collection, re-use and recycling of used electronic devices including:

  • revising collection and recovery targets: from 2016, EU member states must collect annually 45% of the average weight of EEE placed on their national markets; from 2016, EU member states are to achieve a 65 % collection rate (with certain exceptions);
  • widening the scope of EEE covered by the legislation;
  • providing for collection at large retail shops of small WEEE free of charge to end-users; and
  • introducing tighter controls on illegal shipments of e-waste from the EU.

In order to obtain assistance for compliance with WEEE legislation or any other EU regulatory issues, please contact the professional listed to the left, or your regular Crowell & Moring contact.

Insights

Client Alert | 3 min read | 05.28.26

PFAS Regulatory Alert: EPA Rolls Back RCRA Proposed Rule on “Hazardous Waste” but Does Not Disturb Proposed RCRA Rule on PFAS

Earlier this month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) withdrew a February 2024 Biden administration proposed rule, “Definition of Hazardous Waste Applicable to Corrective Action for Releases From Solid Waste Management Units,” under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).[1] The withdrawn proposal would have revised RCRA corrective action regulations to expressly apply the broader statutory definition of “hazardous waste,” rather than only the narrower regulatory definition. Now, EPA is maintaining the status quo for corrective action under RCRA. However, EPA’s withdrawal of its proposed RCRA hazardous waste definition makes no mention of its corresponding proposal from 2024 to list nine per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as RCRA hazardous constituents.[2] This disjointed withdrawal, while providing some certainty for regulated entities, does not resolve how EPA plans to address PFAS under the RCRA program....