With everything else going on in the UK over the weekend it is worth noting that the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) came into force on July 1st.
To be honest WEEE is a pretty complicated directive. Unlike RoHS, this is categorised as an Article 175 directive meaning that the interpretation, and implementation, may well differ across EU Member States.
I listened to a guest on a BBC Radio 5 current affairs programme on Saturday morning really struggling to get the aims of the directive across to the listener.
All the interviewer wanted to talk about was how much the cost of goods would go up from the retailer, there was no interest in the environment whatsoever.
So why recycle…..here’s why?
+ We send 1 million tonnes of WEEE to landfill each year in the UK, by far the fastest growing of all waste streams.
+ We dispose of 93 million items of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) every year, 40% into the dustbin outside the back door (not surprising as the average household now owns 25 items of EEE).
+ Due to inefficient recycling we lose 400,000 tonnes of ferrous metal, 200,000 tonnes of plastic, 100,000 tonnes of copper and 50,000 tonnes of both aluminium and glass every year.
The broad aim of the WEEE Directive is to address the environmental impact of EEE when it reaches end-of-life and to encourage its separate collection, subsequent treatment, reuse, recovery, recycling and environmentally sound disposal.
The legislation applies to both household and non-household WEEE.
A crossed out "wheelie bin" symbol and date mark indicate if the product was be put on the market after 13th August 2005 and is classified as "new" or "future" WEEE. Before that date the EEE would be considered as "historic" WEEE and would have different methods of collection.
With 5 million TV's, 2 million home PC's and 8 million tonnes of battery operated toys disposed of every year the directive will help to ease the constant strain on landfil sites.
Directive Decoder
See also: Electronics Weekly's WEEE Directive In Full Force, a roundup of content related to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment regulations.
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