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Every year in the UK over a million tonnes of electrical and electronic equipment(EEE) is thrown away by businesses and householders. Much of this ends up in landfill sites, and it is increasing by an estimated 80,000 tonnes annually. It is in an attempt to conquer this problem that the new Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) has been introduced.
According to the DTI, WEEE: “Aims to minimise the impacts of electrical and electronic equipment on the environment during their lifetimes 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. It makes producers responsible for financing most of these activities (producer responsibility). Private householders will be enabled to return WEEE without charge.”
As the WEEE directive is due to come into effect from August 13th retailers need to look into what exactly they need to do to comply - the new rules also affect manufacturers, other businesses and consumers. Failure to comply with the legislation can lead to prosecution.
Ten product categories are covered by the WEEE directive, but the two types which are most likely to be of interest to Toolbusiness+Hire readers are lighting equipment and electrical and electronic tools.
There are two exceptions that are worth clarifying at this point: Filament lightbulbs, and large scale, stationary industrial tools.
The list of Products that is included under the directive is exhaustive and those which are most likely to be of interest to tool retailers are: ‘Drills, saws; equipment for turning, milling, sanding, grinding, sawing, cutting shearing, drilling, making holes, punching, folding, bending or similar processing of wood, metal nd other materials; tools for riveting, nailing or screwing or removing rivets, nails screws or similar uses; tools for welding, soldering or similar use; equipment for spraying, spreading, dispersing or other treatment of liquid or gaseous substances by other means; tools for mowing or other gardening activities.
Or to put it another way; pretty much anything a tool retailer would stock.
So what will a retailer be required to do? Put simply, for every new item of EEE sold a retailer must be able to accept an old item, like for like. So for every new drill sold a faulty old one can be handed in.
Consumers are not compelled to hand their old goods in, but if they do they cannot be charged, the service must be free. The swap does not have to be as simple as this, a retailer can operate a system of collecting waste, or offer together with other retailers means of passing on old EEE. Local authorities should be able to give retailers more information about compliance schemes in their area.
The regulations also require that retailers and distributors make sure customers are informed of take back schemes, and encourage them to take part in collection schemes. In practice this is likely to take the form of co-operation with local authorities, charities and the recycling industry to provide posters, leaflets, notices, information on websites, and newspaper adverts.
The whole network of collection and control of WEEE will be under the control of the National Clearing House (NCH) which will ensure producers are conforming to the rules, coordinate collection and report on performance statistics to the government.
The penalties for non-compliance range from a £5000 fine, for cases heard in a Magistrates Court, up to two years imprisonment or an unlimited fine for cases heard in Crown Court. Though as the regulations cover producers and suppliers as well as retailers it is likely the upper limits are intended to be used for serious transgressions. Time will tell what the actual level of punishment courts see as appropriate is.
Some parts of the directive, which apply to producers have already been brought into effect. However, from August 13th, with the Government and the EU parliament keen to make a priority of the problem of waste, it seems likely the rules will be firmly applied.
Earlier this month, in a speech on ‘The Government’s Vision for Sustainable Waste Management’ Margaret Beckett, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs stated: “ We need to ensure waste production is minimised where possible, and wherever it does occur we must encourage its reuse, recycling or the recovery of energy, in order to make waste itself a resource.”
This ambition is reflected in the goal for WEEE of collecting 4kg per person in the UK every year by December 2006.
There is plenty of information available for businesses that need to find out more, see the websites listed in the box. With changes only seven months away it really is time to get ready.
weeedirectory.com
Useful Websites
Department for Trade and Industry
Dti.gov.uk/sustainability/wee
Associate Parliamentary Sustainable Waste Group:
pswg.org.uk/electrical.html
The Chartered Institution of Wastes Management
ciwm.co.uk
WEEE Recycling Network: an information service for small businesses
weeenetwork.com/index.htm
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
defra.gov.uk/environment/
The WEEE Directory is a unique website that contains two main areas. The first is the directory of WEEE recyclers across the UK and the second is the Tenders & Collections section.
The WEEE directory ensures that users can quickly search for a recycler in their area by specifying the type of equipment, such as IT Equipment, Fluorescent tubes etc.
“The first problem businesses will encounter when trying to comply with the legislation is to find a recycler that matches all of their individual requirements. This could take days of searching for, and contacting recyclers for quotes. Our new and unique systems allow businesses to reduce search time to minutes rather than days. “ Says Lee Sykes - Director of Operations for the directory, which is operated by LJS Media.
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Airstream Communications