AN ELCOM SHORT BRIEFING ON THE WEEE DIRECTIVE

What is the WEEE Directive?

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive was adopted by the EU in 2003. It aims to reduce the amount of WEEE being disposed of in landfills by promoting separate collection, treatment and recycling.

On 12 December 2006 the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations 2006, which implement most aspects of the WEEE Directive in the UK, were laid in Parliament. These Regulations came into force on 2 January 2007.

What does this mean?

Since January 2007, companies are legally required to ensure that their old equipment is disposed of in accordance with environmental regulations and with a full audit trail.

Who is responsible?

Where the equipment in question was put on the market on or after 13th August 2005 or where a producer is replacing an older product of their own brand with another, that producer is responsible for the collection, treatment, recovery and disposal of that waste equipment.

However.....the directive states that a producer may conclude an agreement making alternative arrangements to finance the costs of the collection, treatment, recovery and environmentally sound disposal of waste equipment.

How does this affect the business user?

Users are responsible for the disposal of older equipment that is not being directly replaced and must put processes in place to manage this in an environmentally responsible and auditable way.

Where producers are legally responsible for disposals, users may adopt responsibility for disposal of that waste equipment if they wish. Users may therefore include responsibility for collection and disposal of WEEE as part of a negotiation for the supply of new equipment.

How can Elcom help?

Elcom ITG offers a collection and disposals service to our customers, covering all desktop x86-type equipment (Intel, AMD) plus other devices such as printers, and provides fully auditable certificates of disposal.  

Wherever possible, Elcom will seek to recover any financial value on behalf of our customers, or for charitable donation as directed. Further details on request. A free white paper is available on the WEEE Directive at http://www.elcom.co.uk/downloads/whitepaper/whitepaper.php.