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The WEEE Regulations - Why recycle?

The European WEEE (Waste of Electrical & Electronic Equipment) Directive sets out measures that aim, firstly, at the prevention of waste from electronic and electrical equipment,
secondly at the re-use, recycling and other forms of recovery of such wastes, and thirdly at minimising the risks and impacts to the environment associated with the treatment and disposal of end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment.
Already many land-fill and waste management companies are refusing to accept disposal of electronic equipment especially devices that contain hazardous substances such as batteries, Cathode Ray Tubes (CRT's), lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, CFC, HCFC (Plastics). These substances fall under another European Directive also due to be implemented shortly known as the RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances).

On 24 March 2005 the Government made an announcement on the timetable and policy leading to implementation of the WEEE and RoHS Directives in the UK. Click here to see text.

With the introduction of this legislation (August 2005), Computer Technology (Scotland) Ltd have partnered with Computer Recycling Services Ltd to provide customers with a cost effective solution to these regulations. Obviously the impact of these 2 directives is enormous and will affect everyone who has any electrical devices.

DTI leads the EU negotiations on both Directives, all of RoHS implementation and on most aspects of UK implementation of WEEE. The Environment Agency (SEPA in Scotland and EHS in NI) will be the enforcement agencies for WEEE. Responsibility for enforcement of the RoHS Directive has yet to be allocated by the DTI.

Defra leads on certain aspects of domestic implementation, including drawing up guidance on how WEEE must be treated, waste permitting, assessing producers’ compliance with the collection, recycling and recovery targets. The Environment Agency (SEPA in Scotland, EHS in NI) will enforce these aspects.

Link to DTI information on WEEE