Waste Management (Electrical and Electronic Equipment)

L.N. 148 of 2021

ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION ACT

(CAP. 549)

Waste Management (Electrical and Electronic Equipment)

(Amendment) Regulations, 2021

IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred by articles 54 and 55 of

the Environment Protection Act, the Minister for the Environment,

Climate Change and Planning, after consultation with the

Environment and Resources Authority, has made the following

regulations:-

The title of these regulations is the Waste Management

(Electrical and Electronic Equipment) (Amendment) Regulations,

2021, and these regulations shall be read and construed as one with

the Waste Management (Electrical and Electronic Equipment)

Regulations, hereinafter referred to as "the principal regulations".

(regulation 23)

Information to be contained in the half-yearly and annual report

of an authorised waste electrical and electronic equipment

collective organisation

Part A: Environmental Information on the operations of the

waste electrical and electronic equipment collective

organisation

-

Statement of Compliance with the obligations

of these regulations;

-

General

details

on

its

ownership

and

membership;

-

Quantities of electrical and electronic

equipment (EEE) placed on the market by the members of

the producer responsibility organisation;

-

Quantities of WEEE collected and annual

collection rate achieved by the producer responsibility

organisation;

-

Quantities of WEEE treated and quantities of

WEEE recovered, prepared for reuse and recycled;

-

The financial contributions paid by the

members of the producer responsibility organisation per

tonne of electrical and electronic equipment placed on the

market;

-

The selection

procedure

for

waste

management operators;

-

List on information and awareness campaigns

carried out by the producer responsibility organisation.

Part B: Commercial and other information on the

operations of the waste electrical and electronic equipment

collective organisation

-

List of producers who were members of the

producer responsibility organisation during the reporting

period;

-

Information on

the

financial

guarantee

covering the reporting period;

-

A description of the return, collection and

recovery systems used or set up by the producer

responsibility organisation, including details on the

collection of WEEE from private households;

-

An appropriate description of how the data

has been compiled, including any explanation of any

estimates used;

-

Information on the authorised waste

management undertakings or establishments used during

the reporting period for the carrying out of the waste

management operations;

-

Proof of recovery, preparation for reuse or

recycling as well as disposal;

-

Additional, detailed financial information

other than the information provided under Part A;

-

Details on information and awareness

campaigns carried out by the producer responsibility

organisation.".

18. (1) In the principal regulations, the words "waste Amends various

electrical and electronic equipment compliance scheme", wherever provisions

the principal

they occur, shall be substituted by the words "waste electrical and regulations.

electronic equipment collective organisation".

(2) In the principal regulations, the word "scheme", wherever

it occurs, provided that such word is not part of the phrase "waste

electrical and electronic equipment compliance scheme" and "eco-

management and audit scheme", shall be substituted by the words

"producer responsibility organisation".

(3) In the principal regulations, the words "collective scheme",

wherever they occur, shall be substituted by the words "producer

responsibility organisation".

€1.17

Regulation 2 of the principal regulations shall be amended

as follows

(a)

in sub-regulation (1) thereof, immediately after the

words "27 January 2003" there shall be added the words "as

amended by Directive (EU) 2018/849 of the European

Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 amending

Directives 2000/53/EC on end-of-life vehicles, 2006/66/EC on

batteries and accumulators and waste batteries and

accumulators, and 2012/19/EU on waste electrical and

electronic equipment"; and

(b) immediately after sub-regulation (3) thereof, there

shall be added the following new sub-regulation

"(4) These regulations shall be read and

construed in the context of the provisions of the

Extended Producer Responsibility Framework

L.N. 151 of

2021. Regulations.".

Sub-regulation (1) of regulation 3 of the principal

regulations shall be amended as follows

(a)

immediately after the definition "agreement", there

shall be added the following new definition

" "authorised waste electrical and electronic

equipment collective organisation" means a

producer responsibility organisation as defined in

regulation 3 of the Extended Producer

2021. Responsibility

Framework

Regulations,

as

authorised by the competent authority in accordance

with these regulations, whose members, by virtue of

these regulations and their membership of that

organisation, are exempt from part of these

regulations;";

(b) the definition "local agency" shall be substituted by

the following new definition

" "local agency" shall have the same meaning as

"entity of Government" as defined in article 2 of the Act;";

(c)

in the definition "producer", the words "including by

means of distance communication as defined in the Distance

Selling Regulations" shall be substituted by the words

"including by means of distance contracts as defined in the

Consumer Rights Regulations".

Regulation 5 of the principal regulations shall be amended Amends

regulation 5 of

the principal

regulations.

(a)

in sub-regulation (4) thereof, the words "and shall

thereafter be handed over to waste electrical and electronic

equipment compliance schemes" shall be substituted by the

words "and shall thereafter be handed over to authorised waste

electrical and electronic equipment collective organisation";

(b) paragraph (b) of sub-regulation (4) thereof shall be

substituted by the following new paragraph

"(b) shall be proportionately distributed by the

local agency, by category, amongst the authorised waste

electrical

and

electronic

equipment

collective

organisations on the basis of the average weight of EEE

placed on the market by the members of the producer

responsibility organisations in the three preceding years, as

shall be determined by the competent authority.";

(c)

immediately after paragraph (b) of sub-regulation

(4) thereof, there shall be added the following new paragraph

"With reference to the distribution of WEEE

pursuant to paragraphs (a) and (b), an authorised WEEE

collective organisation shall collect the share of the WEEE

allocated to it within six months of notification by the local

agency

Provided that where the producer responsibility

organisation fails to comply with such date, the local

agency may treat such WEEE at the expense of the

producer responsibility organisation subject to the

Minister’s approval."; and

(d) immediately after sub-regulation (5) thereof there

shall be added the following new sub-regulation

"(6) Producers, or authorised WEEE collective

organisations acting on their behalf, shall ensure continuity

of waste management services throughout the year, even if

the collection targets laid down in regulation 7(1) are

achieved.".

Immediately after regulation 8 of the principal regulations

there shall be added the following new regulation

(1) For waste electrical and electronic

equipment treated in Malta, it shall be the duty of

the self-compliant producer or the waste electrical

and electronic equipment collective organisation to

acquire a signed declaration from local waste

management undertakings or establishments,

authorised by the competent authority according to

the Waste Regulations indicating

(a) the actual rate that has been

recovered, prepared for reuse, recycled and,

or disposed; and

(b) that the waste electrical and

electronic equipment has been recovered or

disposed of in an environmentally sound

manner.

(2) For waste electrical and electronic

equipment exported for further treatment, it shall be

the duty of the self-compliant producer or the waste

electrical and electronic equipment collective

organisation to acquire a signed declaration issued

by the foreign waste management undertaking or

establishment handling the waste electrical and

electronic equipment indicating

(a)

the actual rate that has been

recovered, prepared for re-use, recycled and,

or disposed by the facility in the Member

State or third country; and

(b) that the waste electrical and

electronic equipment has been recovered or

disposed of in an environmentally sound

manner.

(3) Without prejudice to commercial and

industrial confidentiality, if a self-compliant

producer or a waste electrical and electronic

equipment collective organisation engages the

services of an authorised waste management

undertaking or establishment to export waste

electrical and electronic equipment for further

treatment, then such undertaking or establishment is

to provide the information referred to in sub-

regulation (2) to the self-compliant producer or the

waste electrical and electronic equipment collective

organisation.

(4) Waste electrical and electronic equipment

treated locally or abroad shall only count towards

the fulfilment of the recovery targets set out in

regulation 11 and Schedule 5, if the self-compliant

producers or the waste electrical and electronic

equipment collective organisation present the

documentation referred to in sub-regulations (1), (2)

or (3) to the competent authority.".

6. Regulation 13A of the principal regulations shall be Amends

amended as follows

(a)

sub-regulation (4) thereof shall be deleted;

(b) sub-regulations (5), (6) and (7) thereof shall be re-

numbered as sub-regulations (4), (5) and (6) respectively;

(c)

in sub-regulation (4) thereof, as re-numbered, the

words "sub-regulations (2) and (4)" shall be substituted by the

words "sub-regulation (2)"; and the words "by its members"

shall be substituted by the words "by the producer";

(d) sub-regulation (5) thereof, as re-numbered, shall be

substituted by the following new sub-regulation

"(5) In cases where a producer or an authorised

representative acting as a self-compliant producer fails to

achieve the obligations pursuant to regulations 12(1) and

13(1), the competent authority shall seize the financial

guarantee to finance the operations related to the

management of WEEE that has not been collected, treated,

recovered and disposed of in an environmentally sound

manner by such producer or authorised representative.";

(e)

in sub-regulation (6) thereof, as re-numbered, the

words "a producer, authorised representative or waste electrical

and electronic compliance scheme" shall be substituted by the

words "a producer or authorised representative"; and the words

"sub-regulations (2) and (4)" shall be substituted by the words

"sub-regulation (2)".

7. Immediately after regulation 15 of the principal

regulations there shall be added the following new regulation

In order to contribute to the objectives laid

down in these regulations, the Minister may make

application of

use of economic instruments and other measures to

provide incentives for the application of the waste

hierarchy, such as those indicated in Annex IVa to

Directive 2008/98/EC or other appropriate

instruments and measures.".

8. Regulation 16 of the principal regulations shall be

amended as follows

(a)

sub-regulation (5) thereof shall be substituted by the

following new sub-regulation

"(5) When a producer ceases to place electrical

and electronic equipment on the market, the producer shall

apply for deregistration with the competent authority in

accordance with the relevant administrative procedure

prescribed by the Authority.";

(b) sub-regulation (8) thereof shall be substituted by the

following new sub-regulation

"(8) Without prejudice to commercial and

industrial confidentiality, the information referred

to in sub-regulation (4) shall be made available in

accordance with the Freedom of Access to

Information on the Environment Regulations."; and

(c)

immediately after sub-regulation (11) thereof, there

shall be added the following new sub-regulations

"(12) It shall be the responsibility of a registered

producer to retain for a minimum of five (5) years the

information referred to in sub-regulation (4). Such records

shall be made available on request to the competent

authority.

(13) A self-compliant producer shall submit to the

competent authority a statement of compliance in respect

of his collection, recovery and recycling obligations in

accordance with regulations 7 and 11, upon applying to

renew his registration according to sub-regulation (3).

The provisions of Schedule 16 shall apply as

regards the information to be contained in the statement of

compliance.".

9. Regulation 19 of the principal regulations shall be Amends

regulation 19 of

amended as follows

the principal

regulations.

(a)

in sub-regulation (1) thereof, the words "regulation

17" shall be substituted by the words "regulation 16"; and

(b) in paragraph (a) of sub-regulation (2) thereof, the

words "regulation 17" shall be substituted by the words

"regulation 16".

10. Regulation 21 of the principal regulations shall be Amends

regulation 21 of

amended as follows

the principal

regulations.

(a)

sub-regulation (1) thereof shall be substituted by the

following new sub-regulation

"(1) Without

prejudice

to

the

Waste

S.L. 549. 63.

Regulations, any person who intends to operate a

waste electrical and electronic equipment collective

organisation as required under these regulations,

including the collection, sorting, storage, treatment,

export and recycling of waste electrical and

electronic equipment, on behalf of producers, shall

require and obtain a valid permit from the

competent authority.";

(b) sub-regulation (4) thereof shall be re-numbered as

sub-regulation (6), and the words "this information" shall be

substituted by the words "any non-confidential information";

and

(c)

immediately after sub-regulation (3) thereof there

shall be added the following new sub-regulation

"(4) A WEEE collective organisation shall, upon

being granted a permit or a renewal of its permit, be

required to submit a bank guarantee in accordance with

Schedule 14 to ensure compliance with the conditions of

the permit and these regulations

Provided that a newly established WEEE

collective organisation shall not be required to submit a

bank guarantee during its first operational year.".

11. Regulation 22 of the principal regulations shall be

substituted by the following new regulation

(1) A producer shall be exempt from

part of these regulations provided he is a member

of an authorised waste electrical and electronic

equipment collective organisation.

(2) A producer, who opts to participate in an

authorised waste electrical and electronic

equipment collective organisation shall, upon

request by the competent authority, submit a copy

of the signed agreement with the operator of the

authorised waste electrical and electronic

equipment collective organisation.".

12. Regulation 23 of the principal regulations shall be

substituted by the following new regulation

(1) The operator of a waste electrical

and electronic equipment collective organisation,

authorised according to regulation 21, shall

(a)

bind himself to carry out the

activities agreed to and on behalf of the

producer in accordance with any existing

laws and regulations, as well as all the

conditions in the permit issued by the

competent authority;

(b) provide the competent authority

by 31 March of each year with the required

information in respect of electrical and

electronic equipment placed on the market by

each producer participating in the producer

responsibility organisation, in the previous

year;

(c)

provide the competent authority

with a statement of compliance by 31 March

each year in respect of the collection,

recovery and recycling obligations in

accordance with regulations 7 and 11. The

provisions of Schedule 15 shall apply as

regards the information to be contained in the

statement of compliance.

(2) The authorised waste electrical and

electronic equipment collective organisation shall

submit a half-yearly report to the competent

authority within three (3) months following the end

of that period, whereas an annual report shall be

submitted to the competent authority within four

(4) months of the closing of the year.

The half-yearly and annual reports shall

contain at least the information set out in Part A

and Part B of Schedule 16 together with any other

information as specified in the authorisation issued

by the competent authority.

(3) Without prejudice to commercial and

industrial confidentiality, a digital copy of the half-

yearly and annual reports referred to in sub-

regulation (2) shall be made available in

accordance with the Freedom of Access to

Information on the Environment Regulations

Provided that only the information relating

to Part A of Schedule 16 shall be made available.

(4) It shall be the responsibility of an

authorised waste electrical and electronic

equipment collective organisation to retain for a

minimum of five (5) years the information referred

to in sub-regulations (1) and (2). Such records shall

be made available on request to the competent

authority.".

13. Regulation 24 of the principal regulations shall be Amends

regulation 24 of

amended as follows

the principal

regulations.

(a)

in sub-regulation (2) thereof, immediately after the

words "of these regulations." there shall be added the words

"Self-compliant producers shall submit the audit report upon

applying to renew their registration according to regulation

16(3) together with the information referred to in regulation

16(4)."; and

(b) sub-regulation (3) thereof shall be substituted by the

following new sub-regulation

"(3) In the case of an authorised waste electrical

and electronic equipment collective organisation, the

auditor shall be required to certify that all of the

information reported to the competent authority is in

conformity with the obligations of these regulations and is

as specified in the permit issued by the competent

authority. The authorised waste electrical and electronic

equipment collective organisation shall submit the audit

report together with the annual report referred to in

regulation 23(2).".

14. The words "regulation 16", wherever they occur, in

paragraph (1) of part A of the said Schedule 9 to the principal

regulations, shall be substituted by the words "regulation 17".

15. The words "Regulation 12" in the sub-heading of Schedule

13 to the principal regulations, shall be substituted by the words

"Regulation 13A(2)".

16. Schedule 14 to the principal regulations shall be

substituted by the following new Schedule

"SCHEDULE 14

[regulation 21(4)]

Bank Guarantee for an authorised waste electrical and

electronic equipment collective organisation

A bank guarantee in favour of the Authority shall be

submitted to the competent authority within four (4) months of

the issuance of the permit or its renewal and shall cover the

WEEE collective organisation’s operations and obligations as

prescribed in these regulations and any permits granted by the

Authority in favour of such WEEE collective organisation. The

bank guarantee covering any operational year may only be

released once the Authority confirms that the WEEE collective

organisation has complied and fulfilled its obligations for that

respective year that the release of the bank guarantee is being

requested for

Provided that in cases of renewal of a permit, the same

bank guarantee may be extended for the duration of the renewed

permit and shall be updated in terms of value to reflect the

calculation below whilst still be applicable for any expired

permit which the Authority is still in the process of verifying

compliance with;

Provided further that during the validity of the permit,

within four (4) months of the commencement of each operational

year, the permit holder shall recalculate the value of the bank

guarantee and update it as may be necessary so that the value of

the bank guarantee in favour of the Authority reflects the

calculation below.

The amount of bank guarantee shall be calculated as

follows

A*B = Bank Guarantee PRO

where

"A" is the average of the actual weight, in tonnes, of the

EEE placed on the market as declared by the authorised WEEE

collective organisation in its annual reports submitted in

accordance with regulation 23(2), covering the three (3)

preceding operational years

Provided that in such cases where the authorised WEEE

collective organisation has been operating for a period of three

(3) years or less, but more than one (1) year, "A" shall be the

average of the actual weight, in tonnes, of the EEE placed on the

market during its preceding operational year/s as declared by

the WEEE collective organisation in its annual report/s

submitted in accordance with regulation 23(2); and

"B" is equivalent to a flat rate of thirty-five euro (€35) per

tonne.".

17. Immediately after Schedule 14 to the principal regulations Adds new

schedules to the

there shall be added the following new Schedules

principal

regulations.

"SCHEDULE 15

(regulations16 and 23)

Information in the statement of compliance

The statement of compliance shall contain the following

information

-

name and address of the approved person who

is issuing and signing the certificate;

-

date of the certificate;

-

the producer in respect of whom the approved

person is issuing the certificate; and

-

certification by the approved person as to

whether the relevant producer has complied with his

collection, recovery and recycling obligations.