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OnSafeLines Free Advice on The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations (WEEE) to Help You Manage Your Environmental Responsibilities
The ethical reason for the WEEE regulations.
Electrical and electronic waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the UK. Around 1.8 million tonnes are generated every year, much of this waste coming from non-household sources such as offices, factories, schools and hospitals. If treated properly, electronic waste is a valuable source for secondary raw materials. However, if not treated properly, it is a major source of toxins and carcinogens.
The WEEE Regulations are an example of legislative policy direction within the EU and UK that is aimed at introducing the principle of producer responsibility in relation to environmental impacts associated with products.
What is it?
The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive came into force in January 2007 and aims to both reduce the amount of WEEE being produced and encourage everyone to reuse, recycle and recover it. The WEEE Directive also aims to improve the environmental performance of businesses that manufacture, supply, use, recycle and recover electrical and electronic equipment.
The regulations aim to:
- reduce waste from electrical and electronic equipment.
- encourage the separate collection of WEEE.
- encourage treatment, reuse, recovery, recycling and sound environmental disposal of WEEE.
- make producers of EEE responsible for the environmental impact of their products.
- improve the environmental performance of all those involved during the lifecycle of EEE.
The default responsibility for recovery and recycling lies with the 'Producers' of electrical and electronic equipment. It is very important to understand that you do not have to manufacture EEE to be a Producer under the WEEE Regulations. Importers of electrical and electronic equipment 'on a professional basis' (i.e. those in the business of importing EEE for sale in the UK) and organisations that re-badge EEE with their own brand will also be classed as Producers by the legislation.
The WEEE Directive has implications for EEE producers, those who sell and distribute EEE, local authorities and consumers.
The directive imposes the responsibility for the disposal of waste electrical and electronic equipment on the manufacturers of such equipment. Those companies should establish an infrastructure for collecting WEEE, in such a way that "Users of electrical and electronic equipment from private households should have the possibility of returning WEEE at least free of charge". Also, the companies are compelled to use the collected waste in an ecologically-friendly manner, either by ecological disposal or by reuse or refurbishment of the collected WEEE.
Non compliance could result in unlimited fines for offending companies and for individual Directors and Managers on a personal level.
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