Legal problems with the concept of electronic and electrical waste

Waste electronic and electrical equipment is one of the fastest growing types of waste. The problems associated with this type of waste are relevant due to the presence of both hazardous and precious materials and substances in such waste. The urgency of this article is caused by the fact that persons who carry out activity in the field of electronic and electrical equipment waste management, face with lack of common understanding of what WEEE represent and what criteria are established to them. The purpose of this article is the analysis of the current federal and regional legislation in the Russian Federation regarding the concept and definition of waste electronic and electrical equipment. This article considers the legal problems associated with the disclosure of the concept of «waste electronic and electrical equipment» in the current legislation of the Russian Federation, in particular, it reveals the fragmentation and non-systemic legal regulation at the regional level in the Russian Federation. The regional legislation in the Russian Federation reveals different concepts regarding electronic and electrical equipment waste as well as 5 different approaches to the definition of the concept. In this connection it is offered to fix at the federal level in the Russian Federation the uniform term of the concept «waste of electronic and electric equipment» eliminating excessive variety of terms; definition of what is meant by this concept. At the same time, it is also necessary to legislate a general criterion for classifying certain equipment waste as electronic.