Foreign manufacturers in the solar sector and EPC-contractors selling directly to end-users in the Netherlands have to comply with their WEEE-obligations in the Netherlands.
The Dutch legislator recently reconfirmed that the foreign supplier is obliged to mandate a so-called ‘authorised representative’ in the Netherlands. That’s the Solar Authorised Representative (SAR) foundation.
In the Netherlands, the WEEE is called the AEEA. The WEEE is meant to organise the recycling of electrical equipment in a legal way. The legislation assigns the responsibility for the waste recycling of electrical products to a specific party, the so-called Producent. The Producent has many responsibilities, for example: registration at first sale, organising waste collection and financing for recycling of future End of Life waste.
AEEA-responsibilities well secured
It’s necessary to secure the AEEA-obligations including end of life recycling, especially because nowadays more and more big solar projects are built in the Netherlands. Also, more and more foreign EPC-contractors sell a project turnkey to a Dutch solar exploitation company in that case there is no importer. That’s why the foreign supplier is assigned the extended producer responsibility. From now on they can mandate the SAR foundation to comply with their AEEA-responsibilities. Owners of solar systems, financiers and the government should always demand only pv-materials that comply with the WEEE-AEEA-legislation in case of SDE, permits, due diligence and material purchase.
More about SAR foundation
The SAR foundation is a sister organisation of the Dutch foundation Zonne-Energie Recycling Nederland (ZRN). They closely work together. ZRN organizes the AEEA-obligations of Dutch producers and manufacturers in the solar sector. It was founded by the solar sector itself in 2015. Nearly 50% of the Dutch solar producers registered in the national WEEE register joined ZRN. Therefore, it’s the biggest pv-collective in the Netherlands.
When a non-Dutch manufacturer or EPC-contractor mandates SAR, SAR becomes a member of ZRN on behalf of the manufacturer or EPC-contractor. This way, SAR and ZRN manage to ensure well-secured AEEA-responsibilities in the future. ZRN and SAR are non-profit organisations and therefore have a low-cost fee structure.
Source: SAR foundation
