Why Recycle?
Put simply any company that disposes of more than 200kg (or 15 CRT monitors) now has a legal obligation to ensure redundant electronic equipment is disposed of in line with new legislation.
Householders and businesses in the UK throw at least one million tonnes of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) away each year, and this figure is estimated to be growing by up to 80,000 tonnes annually. The recycling and treatment of EEE is not currently undertaken to a sufficient extent, so the introduction of the WEEE Directive is a positive move for the environment.
The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) aims to minimise the impacts of electrical and electronic equipment on the environment during their life times and when they become waste. It applies to a huge spectrum of products. It encourages and sets criteria for the collection, treatment, recycling and recovery of waste electrical and electronic equipment.
What is the WEEE Directive?
Please click on the following link for comprehensive information and latest news regarding the WEEE directive.
Environment Agency WEEE directive
What is the Restriction of Certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive?
RoHS takes its scope broadly from the WEEE Directive and sets out to restrict the use of hazardous substances and contribute to the environmentally sound recovery and disposal of WEEE. The RoHS Directive became European law on 16th July 2005.
Objectives of the RoHS Directive
It is recognized that the WEEE Directive cannot eradicate all EEE from entering landfill. The role of RoHS is to reduce harmful substances at source, ensuring that these hazardous substances are not leached into the environment by equipment, which inevitably fails to be recycled.
Who does it affect?
The RoHS Directive affects all those involved in manufacturing, selling, distributing, recycling or treating electrical and electronic equipment.
What stage are we at with the RoHS Directive?
The RoHS Directive and the UK RoHS regulations come into force on 1 July 2006.
What do I need to do?
Nothing at present unless you are a manufacturer.
What is the Hazardous Waste Regulation?
The Hazardous Waste Regulation 2005 replaces the Special Waste Regulation 1996. The new legislation now incorporates additional forms of waste previously not classified as hazardous e.g. Computer monitors, VDU’s etc.
The purpose of the Hazardous Waste Regulation is to provide an effective system of control for these wastes and to ensure that they are soundly managed from their point of production to their final destination for disposal or recovery.
Objectives of the Hazardous Waste Regulation
The objectives behind the implementation of the Hazardous Waste Regulation include:
- Implementation of the provisions of the Hazardous Waste Directive;
- Maintenance of the controls imposed by the previous regulations;
- Achievement of a cradle to grave audit trail;
- Deterring illegal disposal of hazardous waste;
- Ensuring records are kept of the disposal of hazardous waste at landfill.
Who does it affect?
Any business that disposes of more than 200kg of hazardous waste per annum is affected. In simple terms if your company disposes of 15 or more CRT monitors per annum, then you are affected. Companies have to register each individual site that disposes of more than 200kg of hazardous waste with the Environmental Agency.
As part of the registration process you will be allocated a SIC and premises code specific to your type of business, which you must quote when passing to waste carriers.
What stage are we at with the Hazardous Waste Regulation?
The Hazardous Waste Regulation became UK law on the 16th July 2005.
What do I need to do?
You need to register each of your company sites that will retire redundant IT equipment with the environment agency. Registration costs £18.00 per site and you can register with the Environment Agency here.
Alternatively CDL can do this for you for £18 plus a £2 admin fee.
You will need to provide your unique SIC code, which CDL can assist you with.
