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Joe Turner51 Upper Eastern Green LaneCoventryCV5 7DA
Ref: FOI 1157Date: 16/02/2010
Dear Mr Turner,
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION REGULATIONS 2004 REQUEST
FORINFORMATION
We refer to your request made on the 8 February 2010 and then
later defined onthe 12 February 2010. We are now in a position to
be able to answer yourquestions for the following information:
1) The number of days Environment Agency staff have spent
regulating the WasteElectrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)
Regulations, since 2007, in China &India separately.
2) The number of sites in China and India which the Environment
Agency hasvisited in order to regulate the WEEE Regulations.
Requests for information that is recorded are generally governed
by the Freedomof Information Act 2000 (FOIA). The information you
have requested isenvironmental and it is therefore exempted from
the provisions of FOIA by FOIAs.39(1). We have therefore considered
your request under the provisions of theEnvironmental Information
Regulations 2004 (EIR). EIR regulation 12 allows apublic authority
to refuse to disclose environmental information if an exception
todisclosure applies under paragraphs (4) or (5) and in all the
circumstances of thecase, the public interest in maintaining the
exception outweighs the public interestin disclosing the
information. A public authority shall apply a presumption in
favourof disclosure.
The Environment Agency is the enforcement body for the majority
of the WEEERegulations 2009 as amended. One of our roles is to
approve companies thattreat or export WEEE for recycling and or
reuse. Companies seeking approvalneed to ensure they have the
appropriate permits and licenses before applying.Part of our
assessment of companies applying as Approved Exporters
(AEs)involves checks on the overseas sites they are exporting WEEE
or materials fromWEEE to. The exporters need to supply evidence
that the sites they are exportingto operate to standards that are
equivalent to the European Union. This may beachieved by a letter
from the competent authority or licence/ permit demonstratingthat
the company is being regulated under an environmental regime.
Environment Agency, Quadrant 2, 99 Parkway Avenue, Sheffield. S9
4WFTelephone: 08708 506 506Email:
[email protected]
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In answer to your questions the Agency has not spent any time or
undertaken anysite visits within China and India to regulate the
WEEE Regulations. It is importantto note that the WEEE Regulations
provide a system to encourage the recyclingof WEEE whereby AEs and
Approved Authorised Treatment Facilities (AATFs)can issue evidence
on the WEEE that they recover. There are other regulations
which companies who handle WEEE need to ensure they are
complying with,such as Controlled Waste, Environmental Permitting
& Transfrontier ShipmentRegulations. Our response has only
taken into account the WEEE Regulations2009 as requested in your
email dated 12 February 2010.
Please do not hesitate to contact David Brunswick on 0114 280
0627 should youhave any questions.
Yours sincerely
Julian Brooksbank
Regulatory Team LeaderProducer Responsibility Regulatory
Services
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