WEEE & RoHS generally:
Visit the DTI website - sustainable development and environment section - and keep up to date with the directives’ progression.

Read Envirowise guides:

• WEEE and ROHS Directives - Actions for managing directors (GG415)
• WEEE and ROHS Directives - Actions for marketing and technical directors (GG416)
• ‘Sustainable design of electrical and electronic products to control costs and comply with legislation’ (GG427).

The publications, including best practice case studies, are available free from:
www.envirowise.gov.uk/electronics or the Environment and Energy Helpline on 0800 585791.
Gain top level commitment for action – guidelines are given in GG416.
Create a plan of action from the above information.

WEEE

• Talk to a recycling industry consortium, such as REPIC, and consider joining one. Contact the Environment and Energy Helpline for more information.
• Talk to a recycler about the requirements and costs of recycling your own product, with a view to re-design.
• Find out what happens at the end-of-life for your product.
• Establish a dialogue with distributors and retailers to establish if your own take-back scheme is possible, or what the best options are for your business.
• Look at your current contracts, both for equipment used and sold, to identify any possible transferral of responsibility.
• For B2B WEEE, evaluate customer opinions about who is responsible for WEEE and see if it is possible to negotiate WEEE responsibility in future contracts.
• If you think your supply chain would benefit from an Envirowise partnership contact the Helpline.
• Evaluate B2B take-back obligations if you are selling electrical and electronic equipment to businesses that are likely to have old stock which will need to be collected and recycled.
• Re-evaluate your business model.
• Identify any market opportunities, such as recycling, logistics.
• Consider a move from a selling to a renting business model (PHS)
• Evaluate design and re-design opportunities. Legislation is here to stay!
• Use the Envirowise DesignTrack service to help evaluate the environmental and legislative requirements of current products; DesignTrack has been designed to help companies comply with the WEEE and RoHS Directives and site visits are free.
• Check out the DTI commissioned report from accountants KPMG into the accounting implications of the WEEE Directive. This is intended to stimulate debate and the DTI welcomes consultation responses from businesses and their auditors.
  www.dti.gov.uk/sustainability/weee/kpmgreport.pdf
• Look at what is happening in other parts of the EU. Read the DTI commissioned assessment by Future Energy Solutions (AEA Technology) on WEEE schemes in other countries.
  www.dti.gov.uk/sustainability/weee/aeatreport.pdf

RoHS

• Go through your Bill of Materials and identify RoHS materials.
  Talk to suppliers and gain a list of all components and what they contain.
• Research alternatives and talk with suppliers.
• Contact customers and discuss implications.
• Presume it is included if the product falls into the grey area or you are not sure.
• Read through the RoHS compliance reports on the DTI website.
  www.dti.gov.uk/sustainability/weee/
  ROHS_Compliance_Executive_Summary.pdf
  www.dti.gov.uk/sustainability/weee/
  ROHS_Compliance_Full_Report.pdf

Where to go for additional information:

www.cfsd.org.uk - Centre for Sustainable Design
www.sustainabledesignnet.org.uk - Sustainable Design Network
www.europa.eu.int/comm/environment/ipp/home.htm - EC's Integrated Product Policy
www.biomimetics.org.uk - Learn from nature through BIONIS
www.biothinking.com - Biothinking
www.kingston.ac.uk/sustainabledesign - Kingston University sustainable design
www.defra.gov.uk - Department for food and rural affairs
www.informationinspiration.org.uk - Information Inspiration, a web-based ecodesign tool
www.unido.org/doc/9753 - United Nations UNIDO training kit on Cleaner Production
www.pre.nl - life cycle analysis tools
www.wrap.org.uk - Waste Resource and Action Programme
www.intellectuk.org/campaigns/environment/default.asp - Intellect
www.uneptie.org/pc/sustain - Unep sustainable consumption
www.environment-agency.gov.uk - Environment Agency life cycle analysis tool
www.sustainablebusiness.com - Sustainable Business
www.design-council.org.uk - Design Council
www.dti.gov.uk/sustainability/weee - DTI

Further information is available via the Environment and Energy Helpline - Tel: 0800 58579

See also: Electronics Weekly's roundup of content related to The WEEE Directive