by Mike Sadler, Head of WEEE Services at Valpak

The technological revolution has spawned a major problem. Unwanted electrical and electronic equipment is the fastest growing category of waste across the European Union. All those laptops, mobile phones and even the kettles used in everyday business life have to go somewhere.

The UK alone generates about one million tonnes of end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment every year. This is the situation that the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive, in all its complexity, has been designed to tackle.

The aim of this important and far-reaching EU Directive, which will be implemented in the UK from January 2007, is to minimise the environmental effects of electrical and electronic waste. From April 2007, the regulations will require manufacturers to finance the recycling of their products.

Although the main onus is on those who produce electrical and electronic equipment, businesses who use such equipment - and that of course means practically all of us - will feel its impact too. In fact, it is difficult to think of an area of UK business life that will not be affected in one way or another by the enactment of the Directive.

If your business uses electronic equipment Though the Directive was mainly formulated to reduce the amount of household electronic and electrical waste going to landfill, it also affects non-household waste, otherwise known as B2B or business waste.

Non-household waste is defined as any unwanted electrical and electronic equipment that ends up in the commercial and industrial waste stream - in other words, everything from office PCs and printers to desk lamps and electronic stationery.

The regulations differentiate between new waste - that is, goods put on the market after 13 August 2005 - and historic waste - goods put on the market before 13 August 2005. For new equipment, the producer is primarily responsible for collection and recycling when the equipment reaches the end of its working life. The producer does, however, have the option to pass this legal obligation down the supply chain to the end-user via a commercial agreement.

In the case of historic WEEE being replaced, the producer supplying the new equipment is liable for the recycling costs of the historic item, on a like-for-like basis, at the time of replacement. The complications arise if a product is not being replaced with a similar item.

In this case the responsibility for the eventual disposal of the waste falls on the end-user. IT departments constantly upgrading computers and peripherals may be hit especially hard by this shift in responsibility.

If you are a producer

For companies who produce, manufacture or import electrical and electronic equipment, the WEEE Directive represents a most significant piece of EU legislation. It is based on the principle that producers are obliged to take responsibility for the environmental impact of the goods they produce throughout the products' lifetime and when they become waste.

It has been estimated that the WEEE Directive will affect from 8,000 to 15,000 producers and importers in the UK. This includes a broad range of companies, from large organisations to small, specialist manufacturers.

So, if you are a producer who manufactures and sells under your own brand, a brand owner of equipment manufactured by others, or an importer of electrical and electronic equipment, from next April you will have a number of new obligations.

Firstly, you will be required to join a compliance scheme, like the one run by Valpak, or set up your own. Under the scheme you will have to:

" register with the Environment Agency

" be given a unique registration number which should be used on all invoices

" provide the Agency with full data on the quantity and weight of electronic and electrical equipment you put on the market each year

" label all equipment with a crossed out wheelie bin symbol, to show that it should not be disposed of in the normal waste stream

" fund the transportation, recovery and recycling of collected WEEE to required standards

" report compliance evidence which represents your market share responsibilities

" provide product dismantling information to treatment facilities where required

Companies will need to ascertain if they should register as producers of household or non-household equipment, or of both.

If, for example, you import fridges and supply them to high street retailers, your company will be obliged to register as a producer of household equipment. If you manufacture IT equipment in the UK and sell it to a distributor who supplies businesses, your company will be obliged to register as a producer of non-household equipment. However, if you import IT equipment supplied to high street retailers and to distributors to business, you will be obliged to register as a producer of both household and non-household equipment.

If you are a distributor

Although the bulk of the obligations under the WEEE Directive fall on the producer, distributors are also subject to certain requirements for taking back waste when selling new equipment.

The term 'distributor' includes distance sellers and manufacturers making direct sales to consumers. The DTI estimates that more than 75,000 retail businesses, from corner shops to major multinationals, could be obligated.

Distributors can discharge their obligations in two ways: either by providing an in-store take-back service and, in the case of distance sellers, by providing a free 'collection on delivery' service; or by operating through the national Distributor Deposit Scheme (DDS), which, once approved, Valpak will operate on behalf of the British Retail Consortium.

General advice to businesses

With legislation as complex as the WEEE Directive, it is essential that businesses seek expert advice, to determine precisely what their obligations are and how they can best meet them. A number of service providers, including Valpak, are offering support to companies on discharging their legal obligations under the forthcoming regulations.

One of the main areas of concern is likely to be procurement. As already mentioned, though the primary obligations rest with manufacturers, they can pass on this responsibility through a commercial agreement. So, as part of the terms and conditions of sale, manufacturers can include a clause that places the responsibility with the distributor or the end-user. They then become responsible for the treatment and disposal of the waste.

In some instances, it might be financially advantageous for a business to opt to take on the disposal costs, in exchange for a reduced price. In others, it may suit a company to pay more at the outset in exchange for the assurance of knowing that the manufacturer or distributor will take responsibility for disposal at the end of the equipment's life. As long as purchasing managers are aware of the implications, they can negotiate the best disposal deal for them.

So, either because of the terms of a procurement contract or because they are not replacing 'like with like', business users could find themselves responsible for disposing of their old equipment. What's new, you might say? That's what happened in the past.

The big difference is that, once the new legislation is implemented, business users will no longer be able to dispose of waste electrical and electronic items by simply dumping them in the bin along with other general waste.

Under the new regulations, companies will be obliged to see that any end-of-life non-household electrical and electronic equipment is collected, treated and disposed of in an environmentally responsible way. It cannot be sent for landfill as in the past. Duty of care responsibilities will be extended to ensure that any waste produced as part of a business is handled safely and dealt with according to the regulations.

However, unlike the household waste stream, no centralised system is proposed for non-household electronic waste and there is no requirement for companies to report compliance evidence - to the relief of many UK businesses.

Only months to go

April 2007 is only a few months away. Producers and distributors of electrical and electronic equipment, who will be the most profoundly affected, should be preparing for compliance to a whole new regime but it would be a mistake for other businesses to be complacent. We must all think ahead.

This legislation will affect the entire UK industry, from electrical and electronic equipment manufacturers and importers to end-users. Whatever your business, make sure you are ready for the implementation of the WEEE Directive.