--- title: "Covered products and e-waste recovery scope" canonical_url: "https://www.sorena.io/artifacts/apac/china-e-waste-law/covered-products-and-recovery-scope" source_url: "https://www.sorena.io/artifacts/apac/china-e-waste-law/covered-products-and-recovery-scope" author: "Sorena AI" description: "How to document product family scope for China waste electrical and electronic product recovery and disposal without guessing catalogue coverage." published_at: "2026-07-05" updated_at: "2026-07-25" keywords: - "China e-waste" - "WEEE" - "Waste electrical and electronic products" - "Product compliance" --- **[SORENA](https://www.sorena.io/)** - AI-Powered GRC Platform [Home](https://www.sorena.io/) | [Solutions](https://www.sorena.io/solutions) | [Artifacts](https://www.sorena.io/artifacts) | [About Us](https://www.sorena.io/about-us) | [Contact](https://www.sorena.io/contact) | [Portal](https://app.sorena.io) --- # Covered products and e-waste recovery scope How to document product family scope for China waste electrical and electronic product recovery and disposal without guessing catalogue coverage. *Product* *China* ## China E-Waste Law Covered products and e-waste recovery scope Match the discarded model to the catalogue's category definition and every technical boundary, then classify each unit or batch as collection, repair, refurbishment, second-hand resale, or regulated treatment. Start with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Product Treatment Catalogue (2014 Edition), effective since 1 March 2016. It lists 14 categories, but each category has its own definition or limit. A product is not covered merely because it contains electrical or electronic parts. ## Definitions ### Waste Electrical and Electronic Product Treatment Catalogue This national catalogue determines which discarded product categories fall within the State Council e-waste regulation. The 2014 edition has applied since 1 March 2016 and replaced the first-batch catalogue. It lists 14 categories, but several entries contain a capacity, output, size, speed, tuner, or network-based boundary, so the category name alone is not the legal test. **Why it matters here:** Match the discarded model to the full entry and technical limits before applying the regulation or requiring a treatment qualification. Products outside an entry can still be subject to other waste, hazardous-waste, product, transport, or local rules. Sources: - [Waste Electrical and Electronic Product Treatment Catalogue (2014 Edition)](https://www.ndrc.gov.cn/xxgk/zcfb/gg/201502/W020190905485475610247.pdf?ref=sorena.io) - [Regulation on Recovery and Disposal of Waste Electrical and Electronic Products](https://www.mee.gov.cn/ywgz/fgbz/xzfg/201909/t20190918_734319.shtml?ref=sorena.io) ### Treatment under the e-waste regulation **Term:** Treatment Treatment covers dismantling a discarded covered product; extracting substances from it for use as raw material or fuel; changing its physical or chemical characteristics to reduce the amount of waste or reduce or eliminate hazardous constituents; and final placement in a landfill that meets environmental requirements. Repair, refurbishment, and reuse as second-hand goods after repair or refurbishment are excluded. **Why it matters here:** The activity, not the contractor's commercial label, controls. Collection, storage, transport, repair, and refurbishment do not by themselves trigger the treatment qualification, but dismantling or the other listed treatment activities do. Sources: - [Regulation on Recovery and Disposal of Waste Electrical and Electronic Products, Article 2](https://www.mee.gov.cn/ywgz/fgbz/xzfg/201909/t20190918_734319.shtml?ref=sorena.io) ### Qualified treatment enterprise **Term:** treatment enterprise A treatment enterprise is an enterprise authorized to treat catalogue-listed waste electrical and electronic products. Its qualification certificate identifies the legal person, facility address, covered product categories, main facilities and equipment with operating parameters, treatment capacity, validity period, issue date, and certificate number. **Why it matters here:** A collector without its own treatment qualification must transfer covered waste to a qualified treatment enterprise. Check the actual certificate fields rather than relying on a recycler label, group-company certificate, collection invoice, or sustainability claim. Sources: - [Regulation on Recovery and Disposal of Waste Electrical and Electronic Products, Articles 6, 11-12 and 22](https://www.mee.gov.cn/ywgz/fgbz/xzfg/201909/t20190918_734319.shtml?ref=sorena.io) - [Qualification Licensing Measures, Articles 11 and 16](https://www.mee.gov.cn/gzk/gz/202112/t20211210_963734.shtml?ref=sorena.io) ### Repaired products sold as second-hand goods **Term:** second-hand goods A discarded electrical or electronic product that is repaired and then sold for further use follows the second-hand route rather than the regulation's treatment definition. The repaired product must meet mandatory national technical requirements protecting health and personal and property safety and must carry a conspicuous second-hand-goods mark. **Why it matters here:** Document mixed return streams unit by unit or batch by batch. Units actually dismantled or otherwise treated cannot be placed on the repair route merely because other units from the same collection were repaired. Sources: - [Regulation on Recovery and Disposal of Waste Electrical and Electronic Products, Articles 2 and 12](https://www.mee.gov.cn/ywgz/fgbz/xzfg/201909/t20190918_734319.shtml?ref=sorena.io) ### China RoHS hazardous-substance regime **Term:** China RoHS China RoHS is the product-facing regime under the Measures for the Administration of the Restricted Use of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Products. It addresses hazardous-substance restriction, marking and disclosure, environmental protection use periods, and conformity assessment for products in the applicable compliance-management catalogue. **Why it matters here:** China RoHS does not decide whether a discarded product is in the e-waste treatment catalogue or whether a treatment enterprise is qualified. Keep the product and end-of-life conclusions separate. Sources: - [Measures for the Administration of the Restricted Use of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Products](https://www.miit.gov.cn/jgsj/zfs/gzdt/art/2020/art_26714a290ac8407fb6df9eb816c2596f.html?ref=sorena.io) ## What this guide helps you decide The regulation covers recovery, treatment, and related activities for discarded products that fall within the catalogue. The 14 categories are refrigerators, room air conditioners, range hoods, washing machines, electric water heaters, gas water heaters, printers, copiers, fax machines, televisions, monitors, microcomputers, mobile communication handsets, and telephone sets. Catalogue examples and limits include refrigerators with volume <=800 litres; room air conditioners with cooling output <=14,000 W, measured at the outdoor unit for multi-split systems; washing appliances with dry-clothes capacity <=10 kg; electric water heaters with capacity <=500 litres; and gas water heaters with heat load <=70 kW. The gas-water-heater entry also shows why an electrical function is not the catalogue test: the official product entry controls. Treatment means dismantling; extracting substances for use as raw material or fuel; changing physical or chemical characteristics to reduce the quantity of waste or its hazardous constituents; or final placement in a landfill that meets environmental requirements. Repair, refurbishment, and second-hand reuse after repair or refurbishment are expressly excluded from that definition. - Match the product family and model to the catalogue's full category definition and any technical limit; do not rely on the category name alone. - For printers and copiers, both boundaries apply: the print area must be smaller than A2 and speed must be <=80 pages per minute. A device at A2 does not meet the stated smaller-than-A2 boundary. Multifunction equipment follows the entry for its main function. - A television entry requires a television tuner; a monitor is an image-output device without that tuner. Record the tuner fact rather than classifying both products from screen technology or marketing name. - Microcomputers include desktops, all-in-one computers, portable computers, tablets, and handheld computers. The handset entry gives legacy network examples but uses cellular-network communication as the functional boundary; the telephone-set entry separately covers PSTN, IP, special-purpose, and other subscriber telephone equipment. - Record whether the planned activity is collection, storage, transport, repair, refurbishment, second-hand resale, dismantling, material recovery, hazard reduction, or final disposal. - If a repaired product will be sold, verify applicable mandatory health and safety requirements and mark it visibly as second-hand goods. - If a collector will itself perform treatment, route it through the treatment-qualification analysis; an unqualified collector must deliver the waste to a qualified treatment enterprise. - Record the exact catalogue edition and entry used, and reopen the decision when the catalogue, product specification, end-of-life route, or downstream operator changes. Sources for this answer: - [Regulation on Recovery and Disposal of Waste Electrical and Electronic Products](https://www.mee.gov.cn/ywgz/fgbz/xzfg/201909/t20190918_734319.shtml?ref=sorena.io) - Use for waste electrical/electronic product recovery and disposal scope, producer and disposal duties, qualified treatment, recordkeeping, penalties, 1 January 2011 effective date, and 2019 revision. - [Qualification Licensing Measures for Waste Electrical and Electronic Product Disposal](https://www.mee.gov.cn/gzk/gz/202112/t20211210_963734.shtml?ref=sorena.io) - Articles 2 and 16 tie the treatment qualification to catalogued products and prohibit covered treatment by or through an unqualified person. - [Waste Electrical and Electronic Product Treatment Catalogue (2014 Edition)](https://www.ndrc.gov.cn/xxgk/zcfb/gg/201502/W020190905485475610247.pdf?ref=sorena.io) - Lists the 14 covered product categories and their definitions and technical limits. - [Announcement publishing the Waste Electrical and Electronic Product Treatment Catalogue (2014 Edition)](https://fgk.chinatax.gov.cn/zcfgk/c100013/c5207617/content.html?ref=sorena.io) - States that the 2014 catalogue edition took effect on 1 March 2016 and replaced the first-batch catalogue. ## Scope questions to answer first Answer three questions separately: does the discarded product meet a catalogue entry, does the planned activity meet the legal definition of treatment, and will the actor treat the waste or only collect and transfer it? A yes at one branch does not decide the others. The treatment catalogue also differs from the former fund-collection scope, which was published separately; do not use an old fund category as the catalogue decision. The regulation encourages producers to collect waste themselves or through sellers, repairers, after-sales providers, or collectors. It does not state a general mandatory producer take-back duty. Once covered waste is collected, it must be treated by an enterprise holding the required treatment qualification. - Input: model identity, technical specification, discarded status, catalogue edition, full product entry, and each applicable limit. - Covered outcome: the discarded model meets the complete catalogue entry. Continue to the activity and actor tests. - Outside-catalogue outcome: the model does not meet the entry or a required boundary. Record the reason and assess other waste, hazardous-waste, product, transport, import, and local rules; do not treat outside-catalogue status as a general waste-law exemption. - Discarded-product status and the planned physical activity. - Treatment outcome: the activity is dismantling, material or fuel extraction, physical or chemical hazard reduction, or compliant final landfill placement. Continue to the qualification test. - Excluded-from-treatment outcome: the activity is repair, refurbishment, or second-hand reuse after repair or refurbishment. Keep the unit or batch evidence and apply the separate mandatory safety and conspicuous second-hand marking requirements when repaired goods are sold. - Producer, importer, seller, repairer, after-sales provider, collector, transporter, and treatment-enterprise roles actually performed. - Named qualified treatment enterprise for any covered treatment route. - Owner and trigger for reviewing the conclusion, including catalogue revision, model or specification change, a different end-of-life activity, mixed-stream routing, contractor or facility change, and certificate change. A repaired unit that later moves to dismantling must be reclassified at that point. Sources for this answer: - [Regulation on Recovery and Disposal of Waste Electrical and Electronic Products](https://www.mee.gov.cn/ywgz/fgbz/xzfg/201909/t20190918_734319.shtml?ref=sorena.io) - Articles 2-3 define treatment and catalogue scope; Articles 11-12 distinguish encouraged producer collection, collector duties, qualified treatment, and second-hand resale after repair. - [Official interpretation of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Product Treatment Catalogue (2014 Edition)](https://www.ndrc.gov.cn/xxgk/zcfb/tz/201605/t20160510_963040.html?ref=sorena.io) - Explains the catalogue's product ranges and states that the former fund-collection scope was published separately from the treatment catalogue. ## Evidence to keep before launch or change approval The regulation expressly requires treatment enterprises to report treatment data and retain the basic data for at least three years. The broader scope note, contract, handoff record, and certificate copy below are practical evidence, not prescribed forms in these two instruments. Keep enough detail to show which models and quantities followed a repair, resale, collection, or qualified-treatment route, especially where one return stream splits between reuse and treatment. - Scope note with model identifiers, product specifications, catalogue edition, entry, and conclusion. - Activity and actor-role decision, including any mixed repair and treatment route. - Treatment-enterprise certificate check for the named facility, category, and capacity. - Contract, shipment, receipt, and destination records sufficient to trace each handoff. - For the treatment enterprise, reported basic treatment data and the records retained for at least three years. - Change log for catalogue, product specification, activity, facility, or operator changes. Sources for this answer: - [Regulation on Recovery and Disposal of Waste Electrical and Electronic Products](https://www.mee.gov.cn/ywgz/fgbz/xzfg/201909/t20190918_734319.shtml?ref=sorena.io) - Articles 12 and 17 support qualified transfer, treatment-data reporting, and retention of basic treatment data for at least three years. - [Qualification Licensing Measures for Waste Electrical and Electronic Product Disposal](https://www.mee.gov.cn/gzk/gz/202112/t20211210_963734.shtml?ref=sorena.io) - Articles 11 and 16 identify the certificate fields that define the permitted treatment operation and prohibit unqualified treatment. ## Boundary with nearby China regimes The e-waste regulation requires producers and relevant importers to follow product pollution-control rules and provide required hazardous-substance and recovery information. Those product-facing duties do not decide whether discarded units fall within the treatment catalogue or whether a treatment enterprise is qualified. Keep the China RoHS product assessment and the end-of-life catalogue and treatment assessment as separate conclusions, even when they use the same model and material data. - Treating RoHS material declarations as proof of end-of-life disposal compliance. - Using an unverified recycler or disposal vendor without checking the qualification permit path. - Treating a sustainability claim or collection invoice as proof that qualified downstream treatment occurred. Sources for this answer: - [Regulation on Recovery and Disposal of Waste Electrical and Electronic Products](https://www.mee.gov.cn/ywgz/fgbz/xzfg/201909/t20190918_734319.shtml?ref=sorena.io) - Articles 3, 10, and 12 separate catalogue scope, producer product-information duties, collector transfer duties, and qualified treatment. *Put the requirement into practice* *Placement: Before primary sources* ## Prepare the qualified disposal evidence file Assign owners and retain evidence for the catalogue-scope, activity, and treatment-route decisions. - [Map official sources to evidence](/solutions/research-copilot.md): Keep the catalogue entry, model limits, activity classification, treatment certificate, and handoff evidence with the responsible owner. - [Review the China route](/contact.md): Check the China E-Waste Law scope decision and unresolved launch questions with Sorena. ## Primary sources - [Regulation on Recovery and Disposal of Waste Electrical and Electronic Products](https://www.mee.gov.cn/ywgz/fgbz/xzfg/201909/t20190918_734319.shtml?ref=sorena.io) - Use for waste electrical/electronic product recovery and disposal scope, producer and disposal duties, qualified treatment, recordkeeping, penalties, 1 January 2011 effective date, and 2019 revision. - [Qualification Licensing Measures for Waste Electrical and Electronic Product Disposal](https://www.mee.gov.cn/gzk/gz/202112/t20211210_963734.shtml?ref=sorena.io) - Defines catalogued waste for licensing and sets the treatment qualification boundaries. - [Waste Electrical and Electronic Product Treatment Catalogue (2014 Edition)](https://www.ndrc.gov.cn/xxgk/zcfb/gg/201502/W020190905485475610247.pdf?ref=sorena.io) - Lists the 14 covered categories and their category-specific definitions and technical limits. - [Announcement publishing the Waste Electrical and Electronic Product Treatment Catalogue (2014 Edition)](https://fgk.chinatax.gov.cn/zcfgk/c100013/c5207617/content.html?ref=sorena.io) - Confirms the 1 March 2016 effective date and replacement of the first-batch catalogue. - [Official interpretation of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Product Treatment Catalogue (2014 Edition)](https://www.ndrc.gov.cn/xxgk/zcfb/tz/201605/t20160510_963040.html?ref=sorena.io) - Official interpretive material for understanding the product ranges; it also states that the former fund-collection scope was published separately and should not be confused with the treatment catalogue. ## Related Topic Guides - [China e-waste compliance checklist](/artifacts/apac/china-e-waste-law/checklist.md): Checklist for covered product scope, qualified disposal partner review, disposal records, and downstream evidence. - [China e-waste deadlines and compliance calendar](/artifacts/apac/china-e-waste-law/deadlines-and-compliance-calendar.md): China e-waste treatment permit deadlines, change triggers, monitoring dates, record-retention periods, and historical milestones. - [China E-Waste Law FAQ](/artifacts/apac/china-e-waste-law/faq.md): China e-waste FAQ covering treatment-catalogue scope, actor duties, qualified treatment, operator records, and the boundary with China RoHS. - [China e-waste penalties and enforcement exposure](/artifacts/apac/china-e-waste-law/penalties-and-fines.md): China e-waste fines and permit consequences by actor, violation, enforcement authority, and required correction. - [China e-waste recovery and disposal requirements](/artifacts/apac/china-e-waste-law/requirements.md): China e-waste requirements for product lifecycle roles, qualified treatment, downstream evidence, and operator records. - [China e-waste treatment qualification workflow](/artifacts/apac/china-e-waste-law/disposal-qualification-license-workflow.md): Decide whether a China e-waste treatment qualification is required, apply through the correct authority, and control certificate changes. - [E-waste disposal operator qualification checklist](/artifacts/apac/china-e-waste-law/e-waste-disposal-operator-qualification-checklist.md): Verify China e-waste catalogue scope, treatment activity, facility-specific qualification, capacity, monitoring, downstream handoffs, and change triggers. - [E-waste recycler contract and records template](/artifacts/apac/china-e-waste-law/e-waste-recycler-contract-and-records-template.md): Contract schedule and records register for checking China e-waste treatment qualifications, handoffs, treatment data, and changes. - [How is China e-waste different from China RoHS?](/artifacts/apac/china-e-waste-law/faq/how-is-china-e-waste-different-from-china-rohs.md): China e-waste rules govern catalogued products at end of life. China RoHS governs hazardous-substance controls, marking, disclosure, and catalogue-based conformity assessment. - [Producer and disposal operator duties](/artifacts/apac/china-e-waste-law/producer-and-disposal-operator-duties.md): How producers, sellers, recyclers, and disposal operators should separate e-waste responsibilities and records. - [What records should a producer keep for e-waste recovery and disposal?](/artifacts/apac/china-e-waste-law/faq/what-records-should-a-producer-keep-for-e-waste-recovery-and-disposal.md): Separate the producer's own China e-waste evidence from records that the qualified treatment enterprise must keep for at least three years. - [When does a disposal operator need a waste electrical product qualification permit?](/artifacts/apac/china-e-waste-law/faq/when-does-a-disposal-operator-need-a-waste-electrical-product-qualification-permit.md): An enterprise needs a treatment qualification before treating products in China's e-waste Treatment Catalogue, subject to the Regulation's narrow centralized-site provision. --- [Privacy Policy](https://www.sorena.io/privacy.md) | [Terms of Use](https://www.sorena.io/terms-of-use.md) | [DMCA](https://www.sorena.io/dmca.md) | [About Us](https://www.sorena.io/about-us.md) (c) 2026 Sorena AB (559573-7338). All rights reserved. Source: https://www.sorena.io/artifacts/apac/china-e-waste-law/covered-products-and-recovery-scope.md