The regulations have been implemented to reduce waste from electrical and electronic equipment and encourage separate collection of WEEE. In Europe, over 90% of electrical and electronic equipment goes into landfill sites - around six million tonnes of waste every year. The resulting emissions are a risk to both health and the environment.

WEEE encourages the treatment, reuse, recovery, recycling and sound environmental disposal of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE). In the long term the environmental performance of all involved during the lifecycle of products will be improved. The directive requires producers to take a whole-life responsibility for their products and to meet given targets, companies will also need to provide data to demonstrate their compliance. The WEEE directive covers all EEE with voltages up to 1,000 AC and 1,500 DC and will affect virtually all producers and manufacturers of EEE regardless of company size.

The regulations have significant implications for importers, producers, retailers and users of EEE, and for those who treat or recover WEEE.

Tim Shaw, managing director of Waeco UK told BB: 'WEEE has had a big impact on our type of manufacturing systems. We planned early, globally, to achieve ISO 14001 by the end of 2005. With this major capital investment we have assured our customers of our commitment to the industry and the environment.’ 

Part of the WEEE directive is the RoHS Directive, it stands for ‘the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment’. This directive bans the placing on the EU market of new EEE containing more than agreed levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants.

In short, according to Nik Parker, technical director of the BMF, it's all about levels of solder.

Directive explained
Electrical and electronic based galley equipment that is free standing is covered under the WEEE directive, there’s a wide range of new galley equipment available on the market at the moment and a number of companies affected by these new regulations.

The WEEE Directive says if your business puts EEE on the market in the UK, then these regulations apply. Brian Clark of the BMF says: ‘It’s the responsibility of the producer to take the product back and dispose of it according to WEEE regulations.’

He continues: ‘If the equipment is part of the vessel, for example something that is bolted down, it is exempt from the WEEE regulations. However items such as fridges and kettles are covered in the directive.’

Producers are defined as being 'any company that manufactures, imports or re-brands electrical or electronic equipment in the UK'.

And it’s the producer who’s financially responsible for collecting, treating, recovering and disposing of WEEE. Companies involved with this directive should have registered with the environmental regulator by March 15, 2007 and been provided with a producer registration number.

In fact there are a number of important dates; from April 1, 2007 labelling rules apply – products must be marked with a crossed out wheeled bin symbol. From July 1, 2007 producers and retailers are responsible for taking back and recovering, or disposing of, waste electrical and electronic equipment from businesses and householders.

Clark points out that: ‘Producers have the responsibility to give customers information, including the environmental impacts of WEEE and EEE, the reasons for separating WEEE from other wastes and how it can be safely disposed of and recycled free of charge.’

Companies must accept all the types of electrical and electronic equipment they sell and record the amount and category of items received – and these records must be kept for four years.

The cost of collecting, treating, recovering and, in particular, the reuse and recycling of WEEE is the producer’s responsibility, as is arranging this either through the producer compliance scheme or with a waste carrier licensed by the environmental regulator.

‘It's possible that in the future companies will have to add the cost of recycling to their product prices,’ said Brett McLellan of Kuranda.

The producer compliance scheme can arrange to meet collection, treatment and recycling obligations. If the producer arranges this of their own accord an evidence note must be provided and kept for a minimum of four years. This note can be obtained from Approved Authorised Treatment Facilities.

Essential compliance
‘Companies who are based in the UK but sell products abroad must have proof that compliance with WEEE obligations in the receiving country have been met,' says Clark.

Laying the WEEE regulations before parliament, science minister Malcolm Wicks said: ‘Electrical waste, such as toasters, fridges and washing machines, are a growing environmental problem here in the UK with over two million tonnes being dumped in landfill last year alone. There is currently no incentive for those that produce them to care about the life cycle of their products. These regulations will mean they can no longer shirk this responsibility.’

‘The WEEE directive will merge into the other complex aspects of running a business these days,' Simon Smith, managing director of EC Smith told BB, 'Although I haven’t had a chance to look at it properly, the recycling aspect seems like a good idea.’

Initially there was great concern among small business owners that the cost of meeting the regulations would be disproportionately high, but a revised fee structure has meant that this isn’t the case.

The implementation of this directive at the beginning of this year will mean companies have to comply to the regulations and the aim should be met, if at a slightly greater cost to producers.