Contained within the written of the WEEE (Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment) legislation is an exhaustive list of everyday equipment, all of which is now classified as hazardous waste. With insufficient copy space to include the entire list, contained in the list below is an indication of the scope of the legislation, and what now has to be disposed of by a licenced operator.
• Televisions, digital TV decoders, video and DVD players, overhead projectors
• Computers, laptops, printers, mobile phones, MP3 players, camcorders
• Fan heaters, air conditioning units, batteries and power capacitors
The licenced operator has to hold relevant licences which have been issued by the Environment Agency; in addition, any equipment which has data storage capacity is controlled by the Data Protection Act has to be disposed of by a carrier or recycler holding licences issued by the Data Commissioner’s Office.
As well as ninety nine percent of all items of electrical and electronic equipment having combinations of arsenic, bromine, cadmium, lead and mercury as elements of component part manufacture, many items also store data too. Double jeopardy, especially for owners of said equipment when it comes to the issue of safe, ethical, secure and practical disposal of the aforementioned equipment.
The legislation was enacted as a response to the mountain of redundant electrical and electronic equipment, a mountain which is growing exponentially year on year. By 2015 it is estimated the European Union alone will generate some 15 million tonnes and that figure is expected to carry on increasing year on year, at least for the foreseeable future.
By placing the emphasis and responsibility of controlled disposal on the shoulders of business owners and/or asset managers, the tide is beginning to turn. With increasing tonnage year on year now being recycled thereby decreasing the tonnage which is otherwise disposed of, everyone is being made to do their bit in helping protect the environment form potential damage.
To ensure that your business fully complies with all elements of the WEEE legislation, contact the team at Dynamic Asset Recovery today; secure, safe and ethical disposal is guaranteed and collection can be arranged from any location in the UK.