Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment
| Information for consumer customers in the UK Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment WEEE is the fastest growing waste stream in the UK, on the increase by at least 5% each year. We are disposing of over 1.2 million tonnes of electrical and electronic waste every year from the public alone, this would fill the new Wembley Stadium 6 times over. The average UK citizen will discard of 3.3 tonnes of WEEE in a lifetime – equal to one double-decker bus for each and every family in addition to 2 million television sets alone being discarded every year. Electrical and Electronic Equipment(EEE) waste is increasing three times faster than average municipal waste and the EU estimates that WEEE currently accounts for 4% of total waste. Much of the UK's electronic waste ends up in landfill sites where toxins put communities at risk. Failure to segregate any type of recyclable material in the home will usually result in items being disposed of in a landfill site and eventually being buried in the ground or being incinerated. It has been estimated that landfill space in the UK will run out within the next 10 years and recycling WEEE will have significant effects on the environment. When WEEE is not recycled the waste can have negative impacts on soil, air and water quality that can lead to environmental damage which can also bring about negative impacts on human and animal health. The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations (2006 No. 3289) (W.E.E.E) have been put in place to ensure that products are recycled using best available treatment, recovery and recycling techniques to ensure human health and high environmental protection. Look out for this symbol You should look out for the WEEE Directives crossed out wheeled bin symbol on products and packaging as all new EEE should be marked with this symbol which aims to encourage you to separate out your WEEE and to discard it separately from other household waste. The crossed out wheeled bin symbol is not intended to indicate that WEEE is banned from being disposed of as general waste, but intended when used with information from http://www.recycle-more.co.uk that recycling facilities are available throughout the UK. Join the Distributor Take Back Scheme (DTS) The DTS is designed to meet the obligations of distributors (which includes Retailers) without the need to offer free in store take back. Instead of offering free in store back, distributors will make a financial contribution to the DTS which will be used to assist in the development of WEEE collection facilities throughout the UK. X2TEK Compliance with the UK WEEE Regulations Statement In order to partially meet our obligations as a distributor as defined in the UK Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations (SI 2006 No. 3289 - 11 December 2006) (referred to hereafter as “the WEEE Regulations”), we have opted to become a full member of the Distributor Take back Scheme (DTS). Membership of the DTS is defined in regulation 35 of the WEEE Regulations and delivers exemption from the requirements of regulation 31 (to “ensure that WEEE from private households can be returned to him free of charge and on a one-to-one basis”) and regulation 34(1) (maintenance of records). As a member of the DTS, we have made a financial contribution toward the development of the network of Designated Collection Facilities (DCFs) instead of offering in store take back of WEEE. This financial contribution is described in paragraphs 83 to 88 of the UK WEEE guidance, and has been used to improve the WEEE collection facilities located at Local Authority Civic Amenity sites. In addition, through our support of the national recycling website, http://www.recycle-more.co.uk , we will also meet our obligations under regulation 33 to make information available to users of EEE in private households on - a. the requirement on each Member State under Article 2 of the Directive to minimise the disposal of WEEE as unsorted municipal waste and to achieve a high level of collection of WEEE for treatment, recovery and environmentally sound disposal; b. the collection and take back systems available to them; c. their role in contributing to the reuse, recycling and other forms of recovery of WEEE under these Regulations; d. the potential effects on the environment and human health as a result of the presence of hazardous substances in EEE; and e. the meaning of the crossed out wheeled bin symbol. WEEE UK DTS Registration Number: 5684 |   |
