As of January 2nd 2007, all businesses and organisations that dispose of WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) MUST comply with the new WEEE Directive, which lays down strict requirements for the collection, treatment, computer recycling and recovery of such waste.
The legislation will impact on any business or organisation that manufactures, assembles, imports, re-sells, retails, disposes of or receives these items for disposal.
Non compliance could result in unlimited fines for offending companies and for individual Directors and Managers on a personal level.
So, what will be classed as WEEE?
Well, the list is quite daunting, covering a huge range of domestic and commercial waste, including:
- IT and Telecommunications Equipment (e.g. PCs, copiers, phones, mobiles)
- Toys, Leisure and Sports Equipment (e.g. video games, bike computers, slot
machines)
- Medical devices, except implanted and infected products (e.g. ventilators,
analysers)
- Monitoring and control instruments (e.g. smoke detectors, thermostats)
- Automatic dispensers (e.g. drinks dispensers, chocolate dispensers, ATMs)
Latest estimates put the amount of WEEE discarded in the UK every year at something approaching 2 million tonnes and escalating rapidly. Currently much of this goes unsorted to landfill, but an amazing 98% could be returned as
materials to the manufacturing chain.
And how can you dispose of it LEGALLY?
Midex Reverse Technologies, the well-established Aldershot-based specialist processor of end-of-life WEEE licensed by the DOE, is offering businesses and organisations across the region specific advice and assistance to help in meeting their new obligations.
Midex operates a unique, total reprocessing service encompassing end-of-life disposal, secure data destruction, hazardous waste disposal and full end-of-process certification, guaranteeing its clients complete compliance with all the new statutory duties and responsibilities.
Offering two options: its "WEEEcollect" cages for regular collections of smaller volumes and a bespoke service for larger quantities and organisations, Midex processes all the waste at its own facilities here in the UK, completely destroying all items rather than passing on or exporting waste for refurbishment or re-use, as many other disposal services do.
Once dismantled and fragmented, 98% of the waste, in the form of raw materials such as plastic, steel, aluminium and copper, is sent for re-introduction into the manufacturing chain. This reduces the pressures on global raw material resources and the pollution created by the manufacturing of new supplies.
Using Midex as your local WEEE processor will also reduce transportation and the associated environmental harm. Other disposal services are further afield and often transport their waste over long distances or export it overseas, where there is less control over its re-use, possibly for illegal scams and identity theft, or the involvement of child labour in its processing.
Midex offers experienced, specialist and environmentally responsible local disposal, guaranteeing you complete compliance with the new WEEE directive. |
