Weee Recycling Advice

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Many businesses in the UK and worldwide use and need to dispose of large amounts electrical goods often known as WEEE. This article will explore WEEE recycling and the best practices for disposal.

What is Electronic Waste?

To begin with, it is necessary to look at what constitutes WEEE material. Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) is waste consisting of unwanted or broken electrical or electronic devices.

The safe disposal of these goods has become a concern because of the varying amounts of components used in the manufacturing and use of electrical goods, their disposal and waste has raised concerns as many of the components which make up this type of equipment are considered hazardous and are therefore harmful to our environment.

It was due to these concerns that most European countries therefore banned electronic waste from landfills in the 1990s. It wasnt until 2002 that the European Union implemented the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE), which holds manufacturers responsible for electronic waste disposal at the end of life.
What is the WEEE Directive?

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive came into action to encourage everyone to recycle and reuse WEEE and to reduce the amount of WEEE being produced, thereby massively reducing the amount of electrical goods headed for landfill, where dangerous chemicals could be released into the nearby environment and water-table.
The WEEE Directive also encourages businesses that manufacture, supply, use, recycle and recover electrical and electronic equipment to improve the environmental performance of the business. The WEEE directive aims to guarantee that businesses manufacturing or using electrical items dispose of these goods in the correct manner.

In the UK the directive has set out 10 categories of WEEE items:
Large household appliances
Small household appliances
IT and telecommunications equipment
Consumer equipment
Lighting equipment
Electrical and electronic tools
Toys, leisure and sports equipment
Medical devices
Monitoring and control instruments
Automatic dispensers

All companies and organisations that import, rebrand or manufacture new electrical or electronic equipment must comply with the UKs WEEE regulations. The same can be said for those companies who disposes of electrical or electronic equipment, or indeed if they sell WEEE.

Before disposing of any items which fall under the WEEE directive it is advisable to identify a responsible and fully accredited WEEE Disposal recycling company to ensure that this is being done in the correct way.
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