International Review of Waste Management Policy - Department of ...

24.4 Key Organisations Involved in Implementation and
Management
The WEEE Register Society Ltd was set up as a national producer registration body to
assist producers in meeting their obligations for the responsible management of
WEEE. It will also handle this function in relation to the Batteries Directive. The
registration system operated by WEEE Register is self-financing with the necessary
funding coming from the obligated producers. 528 The WEEE Register has a duty to
notify the EPA of any non-compliance.
WEEE Ireland and ERP Ireland are the two approved national compliance schemes
which collect waste batteries for recycling on behalf of their members and reports on
this process to the regulatory bodies. The two companies operate in distinct
geographical areas as follows:
450
� ERP Ireland, collect in the functional areas of Limerick City Council and Cavan,
Clare, Fingal, Kerry, Limerick, Meath and Monaghan County Councils; and
� WEEE Ireland, collect in the functional areas of all the remaining local
authorities.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and local authorities have enforcement
roles under the legislation. In general terms, the EPA is responsible for enforcing
producer obligations and local authorities for distributor obligations. The EPA will be
empowered to order the withdrawal and recall of non-compliant batteries from the
market and seek an injunction against a person failing to comply with a direction to
withdraw or recall non-compliant batteries, in lieu of instigating summary
proceedings. An appeals mechanism will, however, be available to effected
producers.
24.5 Monitoring and Measurement Techniques Applied
No evaluation of policy has been carried out since the recent introduction of the
Batteries Directive in Ireland. The WEEE Register oversees the ‘WEEE Blackbox’ – an
information gathering service whose role includes:
• Receipt and processing of data on market share from registered producers
(per weight, chemistry, category and subcategory);
• Determination of market share based on battery type and producer; and
• Providing management reports for WEEE Register.
Information is submitted to the ‘WEEE Blackbox’ on a monthly basis and began in
February 2009. The purpose of the data input is to determine the financial liability by
market share of individual producers. No information has been made public at the
528 Waste Management (Batteries and Accumulators) Regulations 2008 (S.I. No. 268 of 2008)
29/09/09