July 1, 2007 sees the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive come into force across Europe.
The main focus of the new EU legislation are companies that import electronic or electrical equipment into the UK. As such these companies are, for the purposes of the directive, regarded as ‘producers’ and therefore responsible for their disposal.
By March 15, producers had to be signed up to a disposal compliance scheme. However, there has been some confusion reported among resellers about their obligations under the WEEE directive due to ambiguities about the role of the distributor. But it seems clear that all resellers need to join a compliance scheme by July 1 or face unlimited fines or even a prison sentence.
End users too have a part to play in the WEEE legislation. The onus now is on end users to recycle redundant hardware through proper disposal, recycling, selling on or donation to a charity. And with the normal lifecycle of a PC being three to four years, computers and their peripherals alone will be a major challenge for businesses seeking to stay within the law.
Business customers of HP who order replacement equipment can take advantage of a free recycling service by visiting www.hp.com/recycle. Consumers should contact their local authority for details of their nearest recycling centre for all obsolete hardware.
If you require to join a compliance scheme, register now at the European Recycling Platform web site www.erp-recycling.org
Also useful are the European Recycling Platform’s WEEE FAQs
