WEEE regulations: producers, retailers and online marketplaces

Who is a producer

Under the WEEE Regulations 2013 you are a producer if you:

• manufacture and sell electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) under your own brand in the UK;
• resell equipment made by others under your own brand;
• import EEE into the UK on a commercial basis, including for your own use;
• are established outside the UK and sell directly to UK end users by distance selling;
• since 12 August 2025, operate an online marketplace through which non-UK sellers supply EEE to UK customers (the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (Amendment, etc.) Regulations 2025).

Equipment is classed into categories (large and small household appliances, IT and telecoms, consumer equipment, lighting, tools, toys, medical devices, monitoring instruments, dispensers, display equipment, cooling appliances, gas discharge lamps, photovoltaic panels and, since August 2025, vapes as a separate category). Producers report the tonnage placed on the market in each category and whether it is household or non-household.

Registration: small producers and compliance schemes

Schemes buy evidence of household WEEE collected and treated by approved facilities, allocated according to each member's market share, so your cost rises with the tonnage you place on the market. Producers must also mark equipment with the crossed-out wheeled bin symbol and provide information for treatment facilities.

Distributor and retailer take-back

Anyone who sells EEE to households must offer free take-back of old equipment of the same type and function when a customer buys new (a like-for-like basis), whether the sale is in store, online, by mail order or by phone. Retailers with physical shops, or with EEE sales of £100,000 or more a year, must provide in-store take-back or an alternative collection point; smaller online-only sellers can join the Distributor Take-back Scheme instead. Large retailers may also have to accept very small WEEE without a purchase under proposed reforms, which are not yet law. Distributors must tell customers about the take-back service and keep records of equipment taken back.

Tip: take-back WEEE is waste, so your duty of care applies: store it securely, use a registered carrier and send it to an approved treatment facility.

The 2025 changes and what is still proposed

The 2025 amendment regulations, in force from 12 August 2025 across the UK, made two changes:

1. online marketplaces became responsible producers for EEE that overseas sellers supply through them, closing a gap in which UK retailers and producers were paying for waste from imports that nobody registered;
2. vapes became a separate category with their own compliance-fee provisions, reflecting the cost of collecting and treating single-use and refillable vapes (see also the ban on disposable vapes in our single-use plastics guide).

Defra's wider reform package, consulted on in 2023 and 2024, remains undecided: producer-funded household collections of small WEEE, changes to retailer take-back, a review of the 5-tonne threshold and a scheme administrator model. Treat these as proposals until regulations are made.

How to comply, step by step

1. Confirm you are a producer and for which equipment

   List every product you make, import or brand that depends on electric currents or fields, and the category and household status of each.

2. Estimate annual tonnage

   Under 5 tonnes: register directly by 31 January. 5 tonnes or more: appoint a compliance scheme by 15 November.

3. Mark the equipment and keep technical information

   Crossed-out wheeled bin symbol, producer identification and information for treatment operators.

4. Report tonnage on time

   Annually for small producers; quarterly through your scheme for larger producers.

5. Set up take-back if you sell to households

   In-store or collection point take-back with customer information and records, or Distributor Take-back Scheme membership if eligible.

Enforcement and penalties

The environmental regulators enforce producer duties and can prosecute unregistered producers; the Office for Product Safety and Standards and Trading Standards enforce marking and distributor duties. Offences carry a fine up to the statutory maximum on summary conviction and an unlimited fine on indictment. The Environment Agency has pursued online sellers and importers who registered no tonnage, and compliance schemes report members who under-declare.

How it differs across the UK

E England

The 2013 Regulations and the 2025 amendments apply UK-wide; the Environment Agency registers English producers and the Office for Product Safety and Standards enforces distributor duties.

W Wales

Same UK regime; Natural Resources Wales registers Welsh producers. Welsh workplaces must also separate all small WEEE for collection under the workplace recycling rules.

S Scotland

Same UK regime; SEPA registers Scottish producers.

NI Northern Ireland

Same UK regime; NIEA registers Northern Irish producers. Because the WEEE Regulations are UK legislation, the EU WEEE Directive changes apply only where the Windsor Framework requires.

Key dates

• 15 Nov 2026

  WEEE: producers placing 5 tonnes or more must join a producer compliance scheme for 2027

  EEE producers at or above 5 tonnes a year EWSNI Annual

• 1 Jan 2027

  Online marketplaces bear full WEEE costs for non-UK sellers' equipment (partial contribution in 2026)

  Online marketplace operators EWSNI

• 31 Jan 2027

  WEEE: small producers (under 5 tonnes) register directly and report 2026 tonnage

  EEE producers below 5 tonnes a year EWSNI Annual

Dates marked “Proposed” are announced or consulted on but not yet law. See the full deadlines calendar.

Fees and charges

Penalties and enforcement

Where to do it: official services

• WEEE producer registration service Register or apply

  Register as a small producer and submit annual tonnage data. UK environmental regulators EWSNI

• Electrical and electronic equipment (EEE): producer responsibility Guidance

  Who is a producer, the 5-tonne rule, deadlines and how to register. Environment Agency via GOV.UK EWSNI

• Electrical waste: retailer and distributor responsibilities Guidance

  Take-back obligations for shops and online sellers, in-store take-back and the Distributor Take-back Scheme. GOV.UK EWSNI

• Regulations: waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) Guidance

  The Environment Agency's overview of the WEEE regulations, compliance schemes and approved treatment facilities. Environment Agency via GOV.UK EWSNI

The law behind this

• Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/3113) EWSNI
• Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (Amendment, etc.) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/910) EWSNI

Terms used in this guide

EEE

Electrical and electronic equipment: anything dependent on electric currents or electromagnetic fields to work, including vapes.

Producer compliance scheme

An approved organisation that registers producers of 5 tonnes or more of EEE and finances the collection and treatment of WEEE on their behalf.

Distributor Take-back Scheme (DTS)

A scheme that eligible distributors can join instead of offering in-store take-back, funding local authority collection sites.

Crossed-out wheeled bin

The mandatory symbol on EEE showing that it must not be disposed of in general waste.

Full glossary