Regulations on the Administration of Recycling and Disposal of Waste Electrical and Electronic Products

Order of the State Council of the People's Republic of China

No. 551

The "Regulations on the Management of the Recycling and Disposal of Waste Electrical and Electronic Products" were adopted at the 23rd executive meeting of the State Council on August 20, 2008, and are hereby promulgated and shall come into force on January 1, 2011.

General Manager: Wen Jiabao

February 25, 2009

Regulations on the Administration of Recycling and Disposal of Waste Electrical and Electronic Products

Chapter One

Article 1 In order to regulate the recycling and processing activities of waste electrical and electronic products, promote the comprehensive utilization of resources and the development of circular economy, protect the environment, and protect human health, in accordance with the "Cleaner Production Promotion Law of the People's Republic of China" and the "Environmental Prevention and Control Law of the People's Republic of Relevant regulations are enacted in this regulation.

Article 2 The processing activities of waste electrical and electronic products referred to in these Regulations refer to the dismantling of waste electrical and electronic products, extracting substances from them as raw materials or fuels, and using methods to change the physical and chemical characteristics of waste electrical and electronic products to reduce the amount of waste that has been generated. The activities of the quantity of waste electrical and electronic products, reducing or eliminating their hazardous components, and ultimately placing them in landfills that meet environmental protection requirements, do not include product repairs, renovations, and the activities of reusing them as used goods after repairs and renovations.

Article 3: These Regulations shall apply to the recycling and processing of waste electrical and electronic products and related activities listed in the "Catalogue for the Disposal of Waste Electrical and Electronic Products" (hereinafter referred to as the "Catalogue").

The competent department for comprehensive utilization of resources of the State Council, in conjunction with the competent departments of environmental protection and industrial information industry of the State Council, formulates and adjusts the "Catalogue", which will be implemented after being approved by the State Council.

Article 4 The competent department of environmental protection under the State Council, in conjunction with the competent department of resource comprehensive utilization and industrial information industry of the State Council, is responsible for organizing the formulation and coordinating implementation of policies and measures for the recycling of waste electrical and electronic products, and is responsible for the supervision and management of the disposal of waste electrical and electronic products. The competent commercial department of the State Council is responsible for the management of the recycling of waste electrical and electronic products. The competent departments of the State Council, including finance, industry and commerce, quality supervision, taxation, and customs, are responsible for relevant management within their respective responsibilities.

Article 5: The state implements a multi-channel recycling and centralized disposal system for waste electrical and electronic products.

Article 6: The State implements a qualification licensing system for the disposal of waste electrical and electronic products. The competent environmental protection department of the people's government at the districted city level examines and approves the qualifications of waste electrical and electronic product processing enterprises (hereinafter referred to as processing enterprises).

Article 7 　The state establishes a waste electrical and electronic product disposal fund to subsidize the cost of recycling and processing waste electrical and electronic products. Manufacturers of electrical and electronic products, consignees of imported electrical and electronic products, or their agents shall perform the obligation to pay the waste electrical and electronic product disposal fund in accordance with regulations.

The waste electrical and electronic product disposal fund shall be included in the budget management, and the specific measures for its collection, use and management shall be formulated by the State Council’s financial department in conjunction with the State Council’s environmental protection, resource comprehensive utilization, and industrial information industry authorities, and be implemented after being approved by the State Council.

In formulating the collection standards and subsidy standards of the waste electrical and electronic product disposal fund, the opinions of electrical and electronic product manufacturers, processing companies, relevant industry associations and experts shall be fully listened to.

Article 8: The state encourages and supports the scientific research, technological development, research of related technical standards, and the demonstration, promotion and application of new technologies, new processes, and new equipment in the treatment of waste electrical and electronic products.

Article 9: Waste electrical and electronic products that are prohibited by the state from being imported shall not be imported.

Chapter Two: Responsibilities of Related Parties

Article 10 Electrical and electronic products produced and imported by electrical and electronic product producers, consignees of imported electrical and electronic products, or their agents shall comply with national regulations on pollution control of electrical and electronic products, and adopt designs that are conducive to comprehensive utilization of resources and harmless treatment. The program uses materials that are non-toxic, harmless or low-toxic and easy to recycle.

Electrical and electronic products or product manuals shall provide information on the content of toxic and hazardous substances and reminder instructions for recycling and processing in accordance with regulations.

Article 11: The State encourages manufacturers of electrical and electronic products to recycle waste electrical and electronic products on their own or by commissioned sellers, maintenance organizations, after-sales service agencies, and waste electrical and electronic product recycling operators. Sellers of electrical and electronic products, maintenance organizations, and after-sales service organizations shall mark the reminder information on the recycling and disposal of waste electrical and electronic products in a conspicuous place of their business premises.

The recovered waste electrical and electronic products shall be processed by a processing enterprise qualified for the disposal of waste electrical and electronic products.

Article 12: Operators of recycling waste electrical and electronic products shall adopt various methods to provide users of electrical and electronic products with convenient and fast recycling services.

Operators of waste electrical and electronic product recycling shall process the recovered waste electrical and electronic products in accordance with the provisions of these Regulations to obtain waste electrical and electronic product processing qualifications; if they have not obtained the processing qualifications, they shall hand over the recycled waste electrical and electronic products to waste electrical and electronic products. The processing company handles the qualifications.

Recycled electrical and electronic products that are sold after being repaired must meet the mandatory requirements of the national technical regulations for safeguarding human health and personal and property safety, and be marked as used goods in a prominent position. The specific management measures shall be formulated by the competent commerce department of the State Council.

Article 13: “ Organizations, organizations, enterprises and public institutions who hand over waste electrical and electronic products to a disposal enterprise qualified for the disposal of waste electrical and electronic products shall go through the formalities for asset verification and write-off in accordance with relevant state regulations.

The disposal of waste electrical and electronic products involving state secrets shall be handled in accordance with state secrecy regulations.

Article 14: The State encourages processing enterprises to establish long-term cooperative relationships with relevant electrical and electronic product producers, sellers, and waste electrical and electronic product recycling operators, etc., to recycle and process waste electrical and electronic products.

Article 15: Disposal of waste electrical and electronic products shall meet the requirements of the state on comprehensive utilization of resources, environmental protection, labor safety, and protection of human health.

It is forbidden to use technologies and processes that have been explicitly eliminated by the state to process waste electrical and electronic products.

Article 16 "Disposal companies shall establish a daily environmental monitoring system for the disposal of waste electrical and electronic products.

Article 17 "Disposal enterprises shall establish a data information management system for waste electrical and electronic products, and submit basic data and relevant information on the disposal of waste electrical and electronic products to the environmental protection department of the people's government at the districted city level. The retention period of the basic data processed by waste electrical and electronic products shall not be less than 3 years.

Article 18: Disposal companies who dispose of waste electrical and electronic products shall enjoy preferential taxation in accordance with relevant state regulations.

Article 19 "Units and individuals that recycle, store, transport, and dispose of waste electrical and electronic products shall abide by the state's regulations on environmental protection and environmental sanitation management.

Chapter III Supervision and Management

Article 20 The competent departments of the State Council for comprehensive utilization of resources, quality supervision, environmental protection, and industrial information industry shall formulate relevant policies and technical specifications for the disposal of waste electrical and electronic products in accordance with their prescribed responsibilities.

Article 21: The competent department of environmental protection of the people's government at the provincial level, in conjunction with the competent departments of comprehensive resource utilization, commerce, and industrial information industries at the same level, formulate a development plan for the treatment of waste electrical and electronic products in the region, and submit it to the competent department of environmental protection under the State Council for the record.

The local people's government should incorporate the construction of infrastructure for the recycling and treatment of waste electrical and electronic products into the urban and rural planning.

Article 22. Enterprises that have obtained the qualifications for the disposal of waste electrical and electronic products, register in accordance with the "Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on the Administration of Companies Registration" and other provisions, and indicate in their business scope the disposal of waste electrical and electronic products can they engage in waste electrical and electronic products. Processing activities.

In addition to the provisions of Article 34 of these regulations, units and individuals that have not obtained the qualification for disposal of waste electrical and electronic products are prohibited from disposing of waste electrical and electronic products.

Article 23: To apply for the qualification for disposal of waste electrical and electronic products, the following conditions shall be met:

(1) Possess complete facilities for processing waste electrical and electronic products;

(2) It has a plan for proper utilization or disposal of waste electrical and electronic products that cannot be completely disposed of;

(3) It has sorting, packaging and other equipment suitable for the waste electrical and electronic products being processed;

(4) Professional and technical personnel with relevant safety, quality and environmental protection.

Article 24 　 To apply for the qualification for disposal of waste electrical and electronic products, a written application shall be submitted to the competent environmental protection department of the municipal people's government at the districted level and relevant certification materials shall be provided. The environmental protection department that accepts the application shall complete the examination within 60 days from the date of receipt of the complete application materials and make a decision to approve or disapprove the permit.

Article 25: The environmental protection department of the local people's government at or above the county level shall strengthen the supervision and inspection of the disposal activities of waste electrical and electronic products through written verification and on-site inspection.

Article 26: All units and individuals have the right to report violations of these regulations to relevant departments. Relevant departments shall keep the whistleblower confidential and deal with it in a timely manner in accordance with the law.

Chapter Four Legal Liability

Article 27 In violation of the provisions of these regulations, manufacturers of electrical and electronic products, consignees of imported electrical and electronic products, or their agents produce, import electrical and electronic products or product manuals that fail to provide prompt instructions on the content of toxic and hazardous substances, recycling and disposal in accordance with the regulations If the information is received, the product quality supervision department of the local people’s government at or above the county level shall order it to make corrections within a time limit and impose a fine of less than 50,000 yuan.

Article 28: Anyone who violates the provisions of these Regulations and engages in waste electrical and electronic product disposal activities without obtaining the qualification for disposal of waste electrical and electronic products shall be punished by the administrative department for industry and commerce in accordance with the "Measures for the Investigation, Punishment and Banning of Unlicensed Business Operations".

If the environmental protection department finds out, the environmental protection department of the people's government at or above the county level shall order it to suspend business, close down, confiscate the illegal gains, and impose a fine of 50,000 yuan up to 500,000 yuan.

Article 29 In violation of the provisions of these Regulations, the use of technologies and processes explicitly eliminated by the state to dispose of waste electrical and electronic products shall be ordered by the environmental protection department of the people’s government at or above the county level to make corrections within a time limit; if the circumstances are serious, the people of the city divided into districts The environmental protection department of the government shall suspend or revoke its qualification for disposal of waste electrical and electronic products in accordance with the law.

Article 30: The environmental pollution caused by the disposal of waste electrical and electronic products shall be punished by the environmental protection department of the people's government at or above the county level in accordance with the relevant provisions on the prevention and control of environmental pollution by solid waste.

Article 31 In violation of the provisions of these regulations, the processing company has not established a data information management system for waste electrical and electronic products, failed to submit basic data and related information according to regulations, or submitted basic data and related information is untrue, or fails to comply with the prescribed time limit If the basic data is preserved, the competent department of environmental protection of the people's government at the districted city level shall order it to make corrections within a time limit, and may impose a fine of less than 50,000 yuan.

Article 32: In violation of the provisions of these Regulations, the handling enterprise that fails to establish a daily environmental monitoring system or conducts daily environmental monitoring shall be ordered by the environmental protection department of the people's government at or above the county level to make corrections within a time limit, and a fine of less than 50,000 yuan may be imposed.

Article 33: In violation of the provisions of these Regulations, the staff of the relevant administrative department abuses their power, neglects their duties, or engages in malpractices for personal gains, and constitutes a crime, they shall be investigated for criminal responsibility according to law; if they do not constitute a crime, they shall be given sanctions in accordance with the law.

Chapter Five

Article 34 With the approval of the provincial people's government, a centralized disposal site for waste electrical and electronic products can be established. The centralized treatment site for waste electrical and electronic products shall have complete facilities for centralized treatment of pollutants to ensure compliance with national or local pollutant discharge standards and technical standards for the prevention and control of environmental pollution by solid waste, and shall abide by the relevant provisions of these regulations.

The centralized disposal site for waste electrical and electronic products shall conform to the national and local industrial zone setting plans, coordinate with the local land use planning and urban and rural planning, and shall accelerate the realization of industrial upgrading.

Article 35: These Regulations shall come into force on January 1, 2011

Material source: http://zfs.mep.gov.cn/fg/xzhg/200903/t20090305_134909.htm