WEEE registration: what online sellers must do

WEEE — the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive — makes producers responsible for what happens to their product once a customer throws it away. If your device has a plug, a battery, or connects to power in any way, WEEE registration applies before you can legally place it on the market, in every EU country (and the UK) where you sell.

There's no single EU-wide registration

This is the detail that trips people up: WEEE is implemented country by country, not as one EU-wide scheme. Registering in Germany doesn't cover a sale into France or Spain — each member state runs its own producer register, and each has its own fee structure and reporting cadence. There's typically no minimum-volume or small-business exemption; a single unit sold into a country can trigger the registration requirement there.

If you're outside the EU

A non-EU business — including a UK company selling into the EU post-Brexit — generally can't register directly with most national WEEE authorities. Instead, you appoint an Authorized Representative established in that country, who takes on the producer's registration and reporting obligations on your behalf. This is a distinct role from the general EU "responsible person" required under product safety law, though in practice one provider can often cover both.

The UK-specific rule

In Great Britain, individual WEEE registration generally isn't available — you register through a Producer Compliance Scheme (PCS), a member organisation that handles reporting and recycling-fund obligations on behalf of its members. As of 12 August 2025, online marketplaces themselves are classified as WEEE producers for goods that overseas sellers place through their platform, which is why marketplaces increasingly ask sellers for proof of their own registration too, even when the platform is separately liable.

After you're registered

Registration isn't a one-time filing. Producers typically owe a recurring report to the national authority — the volumes and categories of equipment placed on that market — which is what funds the recycling infrastructure your registration fee pays into. Selling without registration doesn't just risk a fine: major marketplaces increasingly require a valid producer registration number before they'll let a listing go live at all.

Where to start

• List every country you actually ship to — WEEE obligations are per-country, so your registration list should match your sales-tax nexus, not just your biggest markets.
• Decide whether you're registering directly (EU-established businesses) or need an Authorized Representative (everyone else).
• If you're on Amazon or a similar EU marketplace, check the compliance-information fields on your listings — this is usually where a missing WEEE number surfaces first. See our Amazon EU responsible person guide for the related seller-account requirements.