WEEE Regulations

You can trust Remploy to help you achieve green WEEE compliance

Remploy e-cycle will help ensure your obligations under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations are fully met, and can offer advice on the best way to deal with sustainable IT disposal.

IT assets which are working, and are quite serviceable, can be considered merely redundant and can often be replaced as part of a modernisation or upgrade programme. These are not "waste" at this stage.

In our care, this redundant equipment is then subject to testing, sorting and refurbishment. Some items at this stage will either fail to pass functional testing, safety testing or other such criteria set for the successful redeployment or resale of the item.

These few items will, at that time, become ‘waste' and are then transferred to appropriately accredited partner organisations for the re-use of individual components and modules, under the WEEE Regulations.

WEEE is the fastest growing waste stream in the UK. Remploy e-cycle aims to reduce the amount of electrical and electronic equipment going to landfill by encouraging increased refurbishment and re-use.

Key dates:

• The regulations came into force in part on 2 January 2007
• Producers had to join a compliance scheme by 15 March 2007
• Producers had to mark electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) by 1 April 2007
• Full responsibility for treating and recycling WEEE began on 1 July 2007

 For further information on the latest WEEE legislation please visit the BERR website here

Producer's obligations:

Producers (importers, manufacturers or organisations that rebrand EEE) are financially responsible for collecting, treating, recovering and disposing of an equivalent amount of WEEE that is calculated according to the amount of EEE that they produce.

They must arrange and meet the cost of the dismantling, recovery, and in particular the re-use and recycling of WEEE. This must be done in an environmentally sound way.

They must make sure that all separately collected WEEE is taken only to approved and authorised treatment facilities, where WEEE can be treated safely prior to recycling or disposal.

At Remploy e-cycle, we will help you to maximise revenue from redundant IT equipment in a clean, safe and green way.

Useful facts

• Just under 10 million PCs were shipped in 2004 (35% were lap-tops).
• Active life is 4 years, only 36% are retained for the full four years.
• 75% of new IT products are purchased as replacements.
• 1 in 12 PCs in use Globally is second -hand.
• Demand outstrips supply in EEMEA, Latin America and Asia Pacific.

Why not contact us to see how we can help you with WEEE compliance, or keep browsing to find out more about us.