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Selling own-brand electrical goods online: when the 5 tonne WEEE line is reached, and what a small producer must do
A shop selling own-brand or imported electricals is a WEEE producer. 4,546 own-brand kettles reach the 5 tonne line; the duties are set out.
A small online shop sells homeware. Last spring it added a line of own-brand desk lamps sourced from a factory, and a bundle with a phone charger. Nobody thought of it as "electrical" in the regulatory sense. It is. The rules on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) reach a shop that puts its own brand on a plug-in product, and the first duty is a registration with a date on it.
Who counts as a producer
GOV.UK's guidance lists who is a producer of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) in the UK. For a small shop the relevant cases are:
- selling EEE under your own brand;
- reselling another maker's equipment under your own brand (if the maker's brand is on it, the maker is the producer);
- importing EEE into the UK on a commercial basis;
- being based outside the UK and selling EEE directly to UK customers by distance selling.
Buying equipment abroad for your own use is not producing. A shop that only resells other makers' branded goods bought from a UK wholesaler is not a producer under this list, though the retailer duties are separate and I did not read them for this guide.
The 5 tonne line in units
The page says that if you place less than 5 tonnes of EEE on the UK market in a compliance year, you can register directly with your environmental regulator as a small producer. Above that you must join a producer compliance scheme. The page is not fully consistent on the boundary: another section says "5 tonnes or more" triggers the duty to join a scheme. Treat exactly 5 tonnes as the compliance scheme side.
Weight is what counts, so work it from units.
| Product | Weight each | Units to reach 5 tonnes | A shop selling 1,200 a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Own-brand kettle | 1.1 kg | 4,546 | 1.32 tonnes |
| Own-brand desk lamp | 0.8 kg | 6,250 | 0.96 tonnes |
| Phone charger | 120 g | 41,667 | 0.144 tonnes |
The weights are our assumptions for illustration. Use the real product and packaging figures from the supplier's data sheet, and add the weight of different lines together, because the line applies to the total.
What a small producer must do
From the page:
- Register through the WEEE online service by 31 January every year, or within 28 days of first placing EEE on the market.
- Report the EEE placed on the market in the previous calendar year, by category, and say whether it is household or non-household.
- Mark the products with the crossed-out wheeled bin symbol and a date mark.
- Keep records of the amount placed on the market by category for at least 4 years.
The page was updated on 12 August 2025 to reflect an amendment bringing online marketplaces into the producer definition for non-UK suppliers. If you sell through a marketplace, check which party is registering.
A shop's checklist
- List every own-brand product with a plug or battery. Check the product pages, not the supplier's description.
- Weigh a year's sales by category. The sales export gives units by SKU; multiply by weight.
- Put the date in the calendar. The 31 January date comes round each year, and a shop that sells its first own-brand item in October has 28 days.
- Check the product safety side. Own-brand electricals also fall under the rules in our product safety checklist.
Packaging has its own producer rules; whether a shop reaches them is set out in our guide to packaging EPR for small online shops. Imported goods raise a third question, answered in the guide to the EU €3 customs duty on small parcels for the EU side.
I did not read the fees, the penalties or the compliance scheme costs for this guide, and I did not check what the regulator in each nation asks for, so confirm them before you register.
Overlyft builds AI staff who join your shop team, tag each product in your catalogue that is own-brand or imported electrical, total the year's units and weights and prepare a registration worksheet for you to check before the January date.
This is general information, not legal advice. Check GOV.UK and your regulator before you rely on it.
Where this comes from: GOV.UK, "Electrical and electronic equipment (EEE): producer responsibilities" (a producer includes anyone who sells EEE under their own brand, resells another maker's equipment under their own brand, or imports EEE on a commercial basis; less than 5 tonnes in a compliance year allows registration as a small producer; register by 31 January each year or within 28 days of first placing EEE on the market; report by category; mark with the crossed-out wheeled bin; keep records for at least 4 years), page updated 12 August 2025. Read 10 October 2026.
AEO Lookup editorial team
We write practical guides for people who run small UK firms, and we check every fact against its source on the date shown. Read how we review, or tell us if something has changed.
