[Query] WEEE is a "Priority Waste Stream"

[dancefloorlandmine]

Nope, you read the title correctly. It would appear that the authors of the EU Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment were never aged four at any point.

The aim seems to be to reduce the polluting effects of the vast quantity of electronic equipment going to landfill as things become obsolete with increasing rapidity. Good call. This includes everything from electronic toys to computers.

The plan appears to be to put the onus on the "producers" to fund the collection and disposal of the WEEE, and household users will not be charged. (OK, this might mean increased prices for those of us on the consumer end ...) However, I foresee a couple of potential snags - one is what the Directive refers to as "orphan" WEEE - that for which the producer is no longer in business. The cost of processing this WEEE will be shared out among the current producers. But what will happen with kit-built hardware? Additionally, it states that producers may enter into agreements with business users to share the costs of processing. Any bets that will become a standard part of the small print for business hardware contracts?

There has been an additional suggestion that this may have an impact on the donation of IT equipment to charities (obviously a subject close to my job heart). Does anyone have any more information regarding this?

Comments

[thepaintedone.livejournal.com]

I don't know much, but if it's as well thought out as the infamous fridge legislation, or the cars legislation, it will be a clusterf**k.

With the fridges one, the government happily signed up strict EU controls on how fridges can be disposed of. Unfortunately when the legislation came into force, it discovered that there wern't actualy any disposal agents in the UK of the required standard. So massive fridge mountains built up all over the country awaiting transport to Germany where they could be disposed of.

With cars, the government introduced a fee to scrap a car to cover the environmental cost. So overnight instead of the scrapyard giving you 30 quid to tow away your old nail, or even just taking it for free, they had to charge you money. Net result? Thousands of cars with the VIN scratched off with an angle grinder being dumped on pretty much every stretch of open road in the country. It really helped the environment to have them all up and down the verges of the nation.

With this one, I've heard that it could apply to those musical greeting cards, and other equaly daft things. One of the big problems with this is that its retroactive, i.e. the producers have to pay to dispose of things they made and sold before the legislation was created, which is rather unfair really.

I have no problem with looking after the environment, but really crap top heavy legislative efforts to do it don't really help. :o/

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

Yep, it appears to apply to just about anything with circuitry, components, or power cells in - which means that it'll cover a vast number of things. I think that the retro-active thing is almost justifiable, in that there are also some new regulations about what compounds can be included in products, and older gear may contain some particularly nasty items. But, given that the cost will either be covered by us consumers, or will end up government granted (thus filtering down through taxation), it is a bit of an issue, I agree!

[nisaba.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry, but I can't get over the acronym long enough to think seriously. WEEE is a priority waste stream? Certainly when I've had enough beer... oh dear... sorry...

It seems to be working for us...

[gaxx.livejournal.com]

It's caused us to get of our collective ar**s (well management at our place anyway) and take the room-full of old kit we have and donate it to a charity that's shipping it out to third-world countries for re-use :)

Re: It seems to be working for us...

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

How old was it? [grin]

We're a charity with assorted bits of history that may well need to be got rid of soon. Of course, it'll end up down to me to sort that out as well ...

Re: It seems to be working for us...

[gaxx.livejournal.com]

Yeah - we're theoretically a charity too... and it does take a fair push for us to get a move on with this sort of stuff :(

Re: It seems to be working for us...

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

Yeah - but the person who will be pushed is me! [rueful grin] And there's so much else to do ...

Re: It seems to be working for us...

[gaxx.livejournal.com]

I seem to have gathered enough mass that people don't bother pushing now ;)

Re: It seems to be working for us...

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

Ah ... the problem is that I have to push myself, as it sometimes seems that I am the only one who knows anything ...

Re: It seems to be working for us...

[gaxx.livejournal.com]

Isn't that rather like trying to pick yourself up by your boot-laces?

Re: It seems to be working for us...

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

Similar, but less effective. [grin]

[littleangel-103.livejournal.com]

I am intrigued to see what happens when Inertia Boy tries to push himself... truly a case of a wossname and an immovable force...?

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

A wossname wossname and a wossname. Yeah.

[littleangel-103.livejournal.com]

Wossname? Oh yeah brain!