The Environment Agency has attempted to clarify the definition of fixed installations – parts of which are, potentially, outside the scope of the WEEE Regulations. While the term ‘fixed installation’ is not found in the text of either the WEEE Directive or the UK WEEE Regulations, it is a phrase used by the European Commission in technical guidance about the extent of the derogation in Article 2.1 of the WEEE Directive for ‘electronic equipment that is part of another type of equipment that does not fall within the scope of the Directive’. Electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) covered by Article 2.1 is out of scope of the Directive and the Regulations. The EA has taken care to state that the guidance is just that and is not legally binding but will take it into account in deciding whether electrical equipment is in scope or not. The key wording in the guidance is “single functional or commercial unit”. Therefore a single functional or commercial electronic product placed on the market would not be a fixed installation, and would be regarded as EEE and in scope, because a fixed installation is deemed to be a combination of products and systems or parts some of which may be electronic products and others not. For further information contact B2B Compliance