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A new law has been enacted in the Province of Buenos Aires in
connection with management of waste electrical and electronic
equipment (hereinafter, "WEEE"). Law No. 14,321 was
published in the Official Bulletin of the Province of Buenos Aires
on December 15, 2011 (including certain notes established in the
Enactment Decree No 2300/10) and became effective on December 23,
2011 (hereinafter, the "WEEE Law"). Below follows a
summary of the main provisions of the WEEE Law.
1. Scope. The WEEE Law covers a wide list of categories of WEEE
(Annex I) that are produced, marketed, and/or used in the Province
of Buenos Aires. The defined categories are broad, and cover the
following: (i) large appliances (e.g., washer-dryers,
refrigerators, dishwashers, ovens) (ii) small appliances (e.g.,
vacuum cleaners, sewing machines, coffee makers, clocks and
watches), (iii) IT and communications equipment (e.g., personal
computers, printers, cellphones); (iv) consumer electronic goods;
(v) lighting equipment, (vi) electrical and electronic tools; (vii)
toys, outdoor and sporting goods; (vii) medical equipment; (viii)
surveillance and control equipment; and (ix) vending machines.
2. Prohibition. The WEEE Law prohibits disposal of WEEE as
undifferentiated solid waste.
3. Main obligations. The WEEE Law establishes, among others, the
following obligations to be performed by manufacturers,
distributors and sellers of electrical and electronic equipment
(hereinafter, "EEE"):
(i) marking the WEEE (and containers, instructions of use and
warranty) with the waste container symbol crossed out (which
indicates that WEEE may not be disposed of as undifferentiated
solid waste);
(ii) establishing systems for receiving WEEE and their
transportation to authorized treatment facilities;
(iii) receiving WEEE delivered by generators upon acquiring an
equivalent EEE;
(iv) having facilities available to receive WEEE at sale stores
covering areas larger than 500 square meters;
(v) adopting measures for selective collection of WEEE; and
(vi) providing information to users and filing information with
a provincial Register to be created by the enforcement
authority;
4. EEE Design. The WEEE Law establishes guidelines referring to
design of EEE for the purposes of facilitating their disassembly
and upgrading, reuse and recycling (which include limitations to
the use of certain substances).
5. WEEE treatment. The WEEE Law provides that WEEE containing
hazardous materials and components must be decontaminated and it
also contains specific guidelines for their treatment.
6. Valorization. The WEEE Law provides that the enforcement
authority and municipalities will guarantee that producers (either
directly or indirectly) organize valorization systems for WEEE,
either individually or jointly. It further establishes
differentiated valorization objectives according to WEEE
categories.
7. Term for compliance with the Law. Even though the WEEE Law
provides in general that "manufacturers who market their
products in the territory of the province of Buenos Aires will have
a one-year term as from the effective date hereof to conform to the
provisions set forth herein" performance of certain
obligations could be required before such date (such as marking EEE
put on the market since December 23, 2011, and furnishing
information to WEEE managers within six months counted as from the
effective date of the Law).
8. Penalties. The WEEE Law provides a penalty system which
imposes certain penalties, such as warnings, fines, suspension of
activities, closure of facilities and discontinuance of activities,
stricter penalties in case of repeated infringements and joint and
several liability of directors, administrators and/or managers in
case infringements are committed by legal entities.
9. Enactment Decree. Partial Veto. Lastly, the Enactment Decree
objected to different sections of the WEEE Law, mainly those
related to the management of WEEE (return by users, reception
points to be established by the authorities, requirements to be met
by WEEE final disposal facilities, etc.), the funding of such
management activities through the payment of a Special Fee and the
Creation of a Monitoring and Follow-up Committee.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.
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