New Directive Spurs UK E-Recycling

Last year a new law crept onto the books in Britain. Called the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE), it’s just taken effect, and it could cause it major change. Under it, 4kg of e-waste per person must be recycled.   The legislation should have taken effect last August, but was delayed by technical problems. E-waste is the fastest-rising form of garbage in the EU, comprising PCs, games consoles, microwaves and washing machines.  The UK alone produces an estimated 1.2m tonnes of e-waste each year. Most of that ends up in landfill sites.   Under the new system, manufacturers have to fund e-recycling schemes. Retailers of electrical goods must now offer customers a free in-store take-back service on a “like for like” basis (i.e. a fridge for a fridge), or help fund the expansion of a network of WEEE collection points.   “We believe this legislation is a really positive initiative which will make it much easier for consumers to recycle their electrical waste," said Hugh Harvey, managing director of Comet, one of the U.K.’s major electrical retailers. It will help fun the upgrading and expansion of council-run recycling sites. Under the WEEE Directive, manufacturers must join one of 37 Producer Compliance Schemes. These are monitored by the Environmental Agency and collect and recycle e-waste. The WEEE Directive will be reviewed next year.