WEEE Directive

To reduce the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in its amount, an environmental legislation called WEEE Directive 2002/96/EC was released on August 13, 2005. Its aim is to remind producers of their responsibility for WEEE and to encourage the recycling and the re-use of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE). The WEEE Directive 2002/96/EC was replaced by the WEEE Directive 2012/19/EU, which was released on July 04, 2012 (“WEEE recast” or WEEE 2”). The Directive must be transposed into national law by all countries concerned within the European Union.

The WEEE Directive defines the following 10 specific categories of end-user equipment, out of which the RoHS Directive applies to 8 of them:

• Category 1:        Large household appliances cold and non-cold (LHA)
• Category 2:        Small household appliances (SHA)
• Category 3:        IT Equipment and Telecommunications
• Category 4:        Consumer equipment
• Category 5:        Lighting Equipment
• Category 6:        Electrical and electronic tools
• Category 7:        Toys, leisure and sports
• Category 8:        Medical devices
• Category 9:        Monitoring instruments and control
• Category 10:      Automatic dispencers

Equipment specifically designed for military purposes is exempted from the Directive.

Kontron is committed to a safe and healthy environment and has been working diligently to ensure its compliance with WEEE legislation. Kontron and all products sold by Kontron comply with WEEE legislation by:

• designing its equipment with consideration to future dismantling, recovery and recycling requirements;
• marking its products with the required crossed-out wheelie bin symbol
• providing information to our customers

What does it mean if the product is covered by WEEE Directive?

In the B2B* segment there are several requirements which have to be followed according to the WEEE:

• take-back policy has to be published
• you are responsible for cost of disposal if the customer is making a like-to-like purchase
• if the customer doesn't replace the product he is responsible for cost of disposal
• if your product was placed onto the market after August 13th, 2005 the responsibility is with the producer
• concerning market-placed products before August 13th, 2005 the responsibility is with the owner

*Like-to-like purchase:

Like-to-like purchase is defined as any brand of equipment being replaced by new equipment providing the same basic function.

*B2B (Business-to-Business):

Business-to-Business means trading between firms (and not between businesses and consumers), describes a company that provides goods or services for another company, as opposed to a trading involving a consumer (end-user).

What does it mean to Kontron?

Most of the Kontron products are categorized as embedded computers, and as such they don't fall within any of the categories defined in Annex I and II of the European Directive 2012/19/EU on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). Kontron embedded computers are no independent electronic and electric devices, and embedded computers are not sold under the Kontron trade name to the end-user, but be integrated in the customer systems. For this reason, the WEEE Directive places the primary responsibility for registration and reporting as well as for managing the required recycling process on the final producer of a product, which is ordinarily the Kontron customer, which sell their products to the end-user under their own trade name.

In order to assist our customers in meeting the WEEE Directive's requirement, Kontron provides the necessary reporting requirements (product weight, disassemble instructions, etc.) in the system technical product specification, the product guide, and/or the installation and maintenance guide. Customers who are affected by the WEEE Directive can obtain a take back policy agreement with Kontron, with the terms being negotiated based on individual contracts.

Beside embedded computers Kontron also produces complete systems, for example rack mount server, which are independent systems. Here Kontron sees a registration requirement regarding WEEE in the affected countries of the European Union. However, in case any Kontron product are exceptions to this general statement above, Kontron will be registered and in compliance as required according to the WEEE Directive and corresponding national legislation.

WEEE Directive

WEEE FAQ