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Introduced into UK legislation in 2007 the Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE), the regulations have been successful in tidying up the ambiguity surrounding the issue of hazardous and toxic materials which are elements of the component parts of electronic equipment. The items contained in the following list are now all classed as hazardous waste, and as such are required to be disposed of by licenced operators and recyclers.
- Televisions, digital TV decoders, video and DVD players, overhead projectors
- Computers, laptops, printers, mobile phones, MP3 players, camcorders
- Batteries, (vehicle and hand held device)
- Fan heaters and air conditioning units
- Microwave ovens, kettles, food processors etc
It is by no means an exhaustive list and is merely in place as an example of items which are used in the workplace, and which business owners and asset managers are required to maintain records of in asset registers. These typical items of equipment along with many other examples all contain elements such as cadmium, mercury, arsenic, bromine and lead; dumped in landfill prior to the introduction of the legislation, the potential of leaching back into the environment was a real and present danger.
Any equipment which is disposed of either as redundant, damaged or beyond repair has to be by way of a licenced operator, a company or organisation which holds licences issued by the Environment Agency. In addition, if any equipment has data storage capacity the disposal agency or operator has to hold a licence granted by the Data Commissioners office. The operators in question have to prove, prior to obtaining their licences that the staff is suitably trained in hazardous waste collection, transport and disposal methods.
The regulations are helping in no small way to defuse the ticking time bomb of the increasing tonnage of waste electronic equipment which is rising exponentially year on year. To ensure your business fully complies with all elements of the WEEE legislation in the disposal of redundant electronic and/or electrical equipment, consult Dynamic Asset Recovery today; secure, safe and ethical disposal is guaranteed and collection can be arranged from any location in the UK.
