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Guidance

WEEE: evidence and national protocols guidance

How to issue evidence, meet and report on recovery and recycling targets and apply protocols on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).

Updates to this page

From:
Environment Agency
Published:
6 May 2014
Last updated:
15 July 2026
Show all updates

  1. Added guidance on the new national protocol for the deduction of batteries from vapes. The protocol will be applied when evidence for Category 15 vape waste can be issued from 12 August 2026. This will ensure a consistent battery weight percentage is used by all vape treatment operators.

  2. Added to section 14 'Batteries in WEEE' that you must not use the 0.68% SMW protocol battery weight on single category WEEE streams such as vapes. You can use the SMW protocol percentage if the composition of WEEE is comparable to SMW from an LA DCF (if neither option under example 3 is practical).

  3. Best available treatment recovery and recycling techniques (BATRRT) guidance has been withdrawn. Updated section 13 to clarify that ATFs must treat WEEE in line with WEEE: appropriate measures for permitted facilities guidance.

  4. Updated the WEEE evidence and national protocols guidance to add guidance on the contracts or agreements in place between AATFs and PCSs. Added guidance on how AATFs and PCSs can ensure evidence notes are compliant, including example scenarios of AATF issuing evidence notes.

  5. Update made to when AATFs can issue evidence on household WEEE to include 'WEEE collected from final holders'. Updated table showing 'Recovery and recycling targets for categories of WEEE' to include category 15 'Vapes and electronic cigarettes' with a recovery rate of 75% and a recycling rate of 55%. Also added vapes and electronic cigarettes as the 7th collection stream 'stream G' to report data in. The British Standards Institution standard for repair and refurbishment of WEEE was updated to 'BS EN 50614:2020'. The template for AATF reporting recycling and recovery rates was updated to add vapes and electronic cigarettes.

  6. WEEE: evidence and national protocols guidance – section 2, we have clarified the third bullet "you received the WEEE from, or on behalf of, a producer compliance scheme (PCS) – you should have a direct agreement or contract with the PCS prior to receiving the WEEE at your AATF and be able to demonstrate this to your regulator upon request, the agreement or contract with the PCS cannot be held by a third party".

  7. Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE): evidence and national protocols guidance. Sections 1, 5, 6 and 7 updated to reflect changes to WEEE online.

  8. WEEE: evidence and national protocols guidance, section 1 changed 'WEEE Settlement Centre' to 'WEEE Online'.

  9. Replaced the Excel file 'Template for AATF reporting recycling: recovery rates' file with an Open Document Spreadsheet.

  10. We have added information to clarify when an AATF and AE can issue evidence and the WEEE they can issue it on. We have updated the SMW and LDA protocols with the 2020 percentages. We have corrected the Northern Ireland contact details.

  11. Included guidance on how to complete the recovery and recycling rate template within the WEEE evidence and national protocols html document.

  12. A new template and guidance on how to complete it for AATFs to report on the actual annual WEEE recycling and recovery rates.

  13. Updated to include a link to guidance on how to correctly identify business to consumer (B2C) and business to business (B2B) EEE and WEEE.

  14. First published.

Documents

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE): evidence and national protocols guidance

Ref: LIT 7612

HTML

WEEE: recovery and recycling targets flow chart

PDF, 5.93 KB, 1 page

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Template for AATF reporting recycling: recovery rates

Ref: LIT 10353

ODS, 5.83 KB

This file is in an OpenDocument format

Details

This guidance for WEEE producer compliance schemes, approved authorised treatment facilities and approved exporters includes the:

  • evidence and national protocols guidance
  • WEEE recovery and recycling targets flow chart
  • actual recovery and recycling rate template

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