LEGISLATION

WEEE Directive and Regulations

Recycling of WEEE is a specialist part of the waste and recycling industry. It is a rapidly growing sub-sector of the industry and has now become one of the biggest waste streams in the world. The Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations became law in the UK in 2006 and these have now been replaced by the by the 2014 EU Regulations.

Electronic equipment often contains hazardous and harmful materials within them such as cadmium, mercury and lead. If not disposed of correctly these materials and many more can seep into the land and into the air creating a toxic environment. Due to this the WEEE directive was created to set out responsibilities for companies to ensure that at least 85% of the materials used in their products are recycled correctly using certified specialist electronic waste treatment facilities.

Not only does this electronic waste create problems for the environment but there is also a lot of value and waste resources being discarded and buried in landfill. People don’t realise that even the smallest amount of waste can have some value, for example, copper can be extracted from wire cables and computer motherboards contain gold, aluminium, palladium and many more metals.

The Environmental Protection Act 1990, is a UK act of parliament that helps control waste and makes provisions for the management of pollution from industrial processes. Like the WEEE Regulation 2014 this act defines all aspects of waste management and places a duty on local authorities to collect waste. As a business, you have a duty to ensure that any waste your company produces is handled safely and within the law. This is your ‘duty of care’ and it applies to anyone who produces, imports, transports, stores, treats or disposes of controlled waste from businesses or industries.

How to follow the WEEE Directive

Businesses are now required to play their part in reducing WEEE. All companies must ensure that their waste equipment is properly dealt with by a certified recycling centre that will offer a recycling, data destruction and secure IT asset disposal (SIAD) service.

SE Recycling is one of the UK’s leading electronic recyclers, specialising in ICT recycling. We will collect and recycle your waste electrical equipment including computers, laptops, servers, photocopiers, mobile phones, printers and all other computer related electronic equipment. Free collections are provided to the NHS, schools, colleges, and government organisations. Collections for businesses may be free and result in a rebate depending on the quantity and quality of your items.

Any data bearing devices are completely wiped in our secure data sanitization zone fitted with 24hr CCTV. Any equipment that cannot be refurbished and remarketed are recycled with 0% going to landfill.

To find out more about WEEE Recycling, or to arrange a collection simply call us now on 0161 637 5656