What you need to know about the WEEE Directive

The WEEE (Waste Electrical Electronic Equipment) directive came into effect on July 1st 2007. It was introduced in an attempt to reduce the amount of electrical waste heading to landfill and has significant implications for producers of electrical items and any non-household users of electrical items.

The directive has a number of different aspects to it and has different implications and responsibilities for manufacturers, distributors and consumers of electrical equipment. We’ve split the information below into the 3 sections of “responsibility” to summarise what you need to do to comply with the WEEE Directive:

End Users

  • Local governments and councils have recently increased measures to ensure businesses and other non-household users are disposing of their waste in an entirely legal and environmentally friendly way and are now asking businesses to produce evidence of the safe disposal of their electrical waste with a certified company.
  • We can collect your electrical waste and dispose of it by recycling, providing you with a professional electrical waste disposal solution. This is essential for the WEEE directive, as if your waste is found to be fly-tipped, then you could incur a fine or even prosecution.
  • Household users cannot throw electrical waste in the bin either, however the responsibility is partly passed to the retailers, distributors & manufactures to recycle the goods for the consumer.

Manufactures / Producers

  • As the original ‘source’ of the goods that eventually become electrical waste, manufacturers and producers of electrical products have the greatest responsibility under the WEEE Directive. They now fully responsible for what happens to the goods they sell into the market (since 31st August 2005) at the end of their lives.
  • By definition, a “manufacturer” or “producer” is a company who either makes electrical equipment in the UK or imports electrical equipment into the UK. It is basically the first point of contact for electrical equipment in the UK.
  • This means that the manufactures have to join a “WEEE Compliance Scheme” to ensure that all the waste they put into the UK economy is properly accounted for, right up to the end of its life. Compliance schemes have been established to look after the obligations of the producers. They collect & recycle the waste on the behalf of the producer or manufacturer and then reports directly to the Environment Agency. 

Distributors / Retailers

  • Retailers of electrical products also have a responsibility to recycle electrical waste they sell into the UK. This group can either offer an in-store take-back scheme which allows people to take their electrical waste back to the store or join a “Distributor Take back Scheme” as provided by Valpak. Use of these services is only valid for household users of electrical goods.
  • Businesses who wish to dispose of their electrical waste cannot take it back to the retailer they bought it from or indeed any retailer. They should approach a registered waste carrier such as Electro Collect to safely dispose of their waste in a compliant way.

We understand that all businesses would like to comply with the WEEE directive and fulfil their environmental obligations in the easiest way possible. Electro Collect has been established to give anyone who wants to dispose of their electrical waste peace of mind.

For full legislation, please click here.