One year on - are the WEEE rules working?

Some firms are still falling short of their obligations under the IT recycling legislation

A year on from the UK implementation of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive, experts have warned that some organisations are still falling short of their obligations under the recycling legislation.

The WEEE rules came into force in the UK on 1 July 2007.

Computer Aid International’s Anja French said up to 10 per cent of firms approaching the charity about donating PCs had previously failed to comply with the IT kit disposal directive. “The government has been slow in educating managers about the directive,” she said.

A recent Dell survey confirmed many organisations are still unaware of their obligations. Almost a quarter of respondents from the Federation of Small Businesses admitted they did not know whether the WEEE directive applied to their firm, while some admitted to resorting to other ways of dealing with old kit, such as storing IT equipment indefinitely or burning it.