12 Feb 2008
Only a third of small businesses are aware of Europe's Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (Weee) regulations – despite them being introduced a year ago, says a survey by the Environment Agency.
The laws introduced in in the UK in January 2007 to reduce the amount of electrical waste going to landfill.The regulations require businesses to return their end of life electrical equipment to the producer or dispose of it ecologically.
"Small businesses generate 60 per cent of all commercial waste in England and Wales so it’s critical that all users of electrical equipment understand what Weee means for them," said Richard Martin, programme manager of environmental guidance website netregs.gov.uk.
Compliance is simple common sense, said Martin.
"The good news is that Weee legislation can help businesses dispose of their electrical waste products sustainably - in many cases, at no cost," he said.
"Where previously businesses may have had to pay for a skip, now they can contact the producer of electrical goods they purchased since 2005 to dispose of their equipement."
WEEE is an essential part of modern-day, environmentally-sound business practice. But unless organisations get their asset registers in order, WEEE will create a significant cost for UK business.
Policies such as WEEE assume a level of asset management far beyond that achieved by the majority of UK business. Unless supplying a like for like replacement, suppliers will only remove and dispose of equipment they have delivered initially. How many UK businesses can accurately identify the location of their WEEE equipment within the organisation and confirm when it was purchased and from whom? Without such information, just which company do they expect to handle the free disposal?
Organisations need to implement sound asset disposal procedures. Linking the asset register to a document management system will ensure a scanned WEEE certificate is linked to a disposed asset, providing the required audit trail. Each asset can be recorded alongside the supplier's name and email address, enabling swift supplier contact when disposal is due.
UK business is already complaining about excessive red tape, perhaps why the WEEE Directive introduction in July 2007 was so downplayed. But a belief that the onus of WEEE is firmly on equipment suppliers could be an expensive mistake.
Yours faithfully,
Karen Conneely
Group Commercial Manager
Real Asset Management
Posted by: Karen Conneely 04 Apr 2008
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