The current WEEE legislation (Waste Electronic & Electric Equipment) which was added to the statute books in 2007 has been introduced to combat the exponential increase in redundant electrical and electronic equipment and eliminate as far as is reasonably practical disposal of same in landfill sites. Plastic shells and covers, steel and aluminium frames and components made from an assortment of heavy metals and toxic elements are present in virtually every piece of electrical and electronic equipment we use in the home and in business.
Arsenic, cadmium, bromine, lead and mercury are just a small selection of heavy metals and toxic elements which are used in modern manufacturing processes and are all essential elements required for the normal function of differing electrical equipment. Some of the components are known to contain carcinogens which are responsible, according to research, for inducing cancers in humans.
Dumping redundant equipment in landfill stores up potential toxic Armageddon; these heavy elements and toxic substances are known to leach back into the ground and subsequently into local water tables, the result is the food chain becomes contaminated. In some areas of the world (China and India) and specific geographic locations the local water table is poisoned and incidences of still birth, deformed infants, adult cancer rates and other health issues are all alarmingly above the globally accepted average for a particular region.
Some fifteen million tonnes of redundant electrical equipment from the EU alone is predicted by 2015 and this figure is expected to grow exponentially for the foreseeable future, given our reliance on electrical equipment as an element of our everyday lives. IPods, iPhones, hand held devices, laptops, computers and peripheral accessories and components. However, innocuous items such as hair dryers, cameras, DVD players and even the IT infrastructure in a building are all covered within the framework of WEEE.
Safeguard your business future and of course safeguard the environment at the same time. Dispose of any redundant electrical equipment safely and responsibly by engaging the services of a licenced carrier, licenced operative or licenced recycling centre and protect the future environment for our children and their children’s children.