One year on: Government Ups Pressure on WEEE directive

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive celebrated its first birthday on 1st July 2008, and the UK Government seems relatively pleased with how the legislation has been adopted.

In a recent speech to WEEE stakeholders Department of Business Minister Malcolm Wicks said :“In the first compliance period the UK collected over and above the 4kg target with a collection rate of 6kg per person and over 184,000 tonnes of household WEEE separately collected.”

"It is important we now explain the WEEE system more clearly to the public through a consumer campaign and we intend to embark on this toward the end of this year. Consumers should find it much easier to recycle and dispose of their electrical and electronic waste now."

Announcing a further review of the entire UK WEEE system and its supporting infrastructure, Wicks had this to say about those still operating outside of the regulations.

"I cannot and will not let any producer compliance scheme running with its own agenda threaten the whole system and we will be working with the enforcement authorities to ensure that those that wish to distort the system are dealt with effectively.

It is worth noting that no UK producer or retailer has yet been prosecuted under the legislation, (three have taken place in Ireland however) and it seems only a case of when, and not if, the first high profile case is brought in the UK.

So what can retailers do to ensure they are not the first to suffer the brand damage associated with an environmental prosecution? Sources of advice are everywhere and often confusing, especially to those smaller retailers who don't have the time and resources available to trawl through government regulations and the seemingly endless amount of information available on the internet.

In an effort to reduce this confusion Recruit Retail Services have pulled together some top tips for retailers to help them understand and comply with the directive, along with a definitive list of useful websites & reports, to produce a comprehensive guide for all who may be affected.

“It starts with understanding what exactly is covered under the WEEE Directive” states Phil Holland, Reverse Logistics Controller at RRS. “Many retailers may not even be aware that the products they deal with fall under the legislation, or that if they do, what they can do about it”

“We've tried to break it down so that's it's easy for people to understand, and offered our opinion on the most useful sites & contacts for retailers, and we'll look to update this with regular news & information as we hear it. The directive won't go away, if anything with Mr Wicks recent comments it's likely to become an even higher priority than ever before”

To view Recruit Retail Services “WEEE Survival Guide” Log on to www.recruitretail.co.uk and follow the links to the “Top Tips” page.

Tagged as: weee | recruit retail

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