REI Recycling IT: The Facts

The WEEE Directive

Householders, as well as organisations in the private, public and voluntary sectors are now expected to pay close attention to the EU’s WEEE directive which came into force in 2007.

The Directive is designed to reduce the amount of electrical and electronic equipment waste being produced and to encourage everyone to reuse and recycle electronic equipment. The directive is aimed at making producers and retailers responsible for the proper disposal of waste such as IT equipment – but it affects anyone who has to dispose of any piece of used electrical or electronic equipment, and that can mean anything from a humble AA battery to a PC or an MRI scanner.

Householders: have a duty of care to keep electrical and electronic equipment waste separate from their normal rubbish collection. They must ensure they only pass their waste to a registered waste carrier or other approved person or organisation, such as an REI member.

Businesses (including schools, hospitals and government bodies): have a duty of care and need to ensure that all separately collected WEEE is treated and recycled. Whether the business, or the producer of the electrical equipment pays for this disposal depends on the circumstances.

For more information on your responsibilities under the WEEE directive visit the Environment Agency’s website: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk

Climate change and recycling

The government has set the Yorkshire and Humber region an ambitious recycling target. It wants us to recycle 30 per cent of our waste by 2010/11 (up from 19 per cent in 2004/05.)
By reducing the amount of IT waste we send to landfill we can reduce the region’s greenhouse gas emissions. This will save the region money because it will reduce the burden of landfill tax which local authorities pass on to tax payers and it will help to tackle climate change.

The costs of landfill

There’s been a big drive recently to encourage everyone to send less waste to landfill and to recycle more. Businesses are facing rising landfill taxes to encourage alternative methods of disposal, while local authorities now face strict targets from the EU to reduce the amount of waste they dispose of in landfill and to recycle more. The government and local authorities incur financial penalties if they fail to meet EU recycling targets and this gets passed on to the taxpayer. The less IT equipment we send to landfill, the less landfill tax we pay.

Recycling IT: the facts

The WEEE Directive

Climate change and recycling

The costs of landfill

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