Consumers

We are all users of electrical and electronic equipment - are there any obligations on us to recycle?

Household

From a private household the simple answer is no. But as the targets of the WEEE Directive rise (the first review is in 2007) we can expect that legislation will be used to enforce the separation of WEEE from other waste streams. Local authorities will not be expected to inccur any extra costs from WEEE - therefore their collections will either be funded from retailer compliance schemes or there may be no collections at all.

If you are replacing your appliance the retailer will be obliged to offer offer a free take back (or an alternative). If you wish to dispose of goods yourself local authorities are encouraged to provide recycling points at the usual places of recycling.

'The UK is to encourage consumers to participate in separate collection of WEEE and facilitate reuse and recovery' at an estimated cost of £18 million per year (DTI figures). The government has suggested that retailers would be expected to provide (perhaps not pay for - we don't know) this kind of information.

Business

Article 9 which is currently under review covers the business to business requirements of the directive (follow the link top right).

A business that disposes of electrical or electronic goods without replacing them will be liable for the final disposal costs, see the B2B page for reccomendations to avoid this.

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