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Tiscali: WEEE Explained

EU WEEE Directive

The WEEE Directive Explained

The European Union's Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive(WEEE 2002/96/EC) is part of national laws in all member countries of the European Union, including the UK. The WEEE directive was designed to make equipment manufacturers financially or physically responsible for their equipment at its end-of-life under a policy known as extended producer responsiblity (EPR). EPR was seen as a useful policy as it provided a competetive incentive for companies to design equipment and products with less costs and environmental liabilities when it reached its end-of-life.

So, what has the WEEE directive to do with the rather striking image to the left?

Well, the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce) displayed the The WEEE man, a construction of electrical and electronic waste, such as washing machines, TVs, microwaves, vacuum cleaners and mobile phones. WEEE Man represents the amount of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) the average British person throws away in their lifetime; over 3 tonnes per person. WEEE Man can now be seen at the Eden Project in Cornwall.

69% of Household WEEE arising by weight in the UK comes from Large Household Appliances; cookers, washing machines and the like. Consumer Equipment like Hi Fi's accounts for 13%, 8% is composed of Small Household appliances such as vacuum cleaners, 7% is made up of IT & telecommunications (mobile phones).

Tiscali Recycles offers a sustainable, environmentally friendly solution by recovering phones for reuse, or recycling those phones that cannot be reused. This saves adding to landfill.

It is difficult to predict the future of WEEE. Future products will change in form, weight, size and distribution after all. What is certain is that the amount of products we consume is growing with global sales of consumer electronics expected to increase by at least 6% in 2008 according to www.itfacts.biz. All these products will become WEEE. This continued growth in the number of products we buy could mean that future WEEE mountains may be even larger.

How do our actions affect the environment?
We contribute to the environmental problem in many different ways. Read on to find out how:

  • We burn fossil fuels in our cars and to heat our homes, schools and work places
  • We eat food that has been grown with chemicals and has used a lot of energy in processing and packaging
  • We buy food and goods that have been transported from the other side of the world
  • We buy TVs, DVDs, MP3 players, stereos and many other gadgets that use up precious resources, take energy to make and transport and then end up back in the earth as toxic landfill
  • We buy products that are manufactured in sweat shops, where people work in unsafe conditions and are paid very little. Child labour is also common
  • We don't think about the wider implications of what we buy, or understand where our waste products go

    • What can you do at home?
    Small, everyday changes can make a real difference:

  • Think before you buy
  • Do not leave you TV or stereo on standby or leave your mobile phone charger plugged in when you're not using it as they still consume energy
  • Use energy efficient bulbs and turn off the lights when you leave the room
  • Insulate your home against heat loss
  • Turn down the heat at night and when you are away from your home, or install a programmable thermostat
  • Look at Wastewatch and energy saving websites for ideas
  • Switch to Juice, environmentally friendly electricity developed by Greenpeace and npower and generated by the first offshore wind farm in the UK
  • Choose reusable products where you can, such as mugs, lunch containers, batteries, pens, razors etc

    • What can you do at work?

  • Support the World Land Trust and recycle inkjet cartridges, laser toner cartridges, copier cartridges and fax machine cartridges
  • Specify recycled paper
  • If possible, set your printer to doubled sided printing
  • Reuse paper as scrap paper
  • Recycle printer and toner cartridges through your local Help the Aged
  • Turn off your computer at night

    Find more information on energy education and energy saving from www.create.org.uk

    Like a lot of modern technology, mobile phones need to be disposed of in special recycling plants. Why not aid the environment and get paid for it too? Find out how with Tiscali Recycles.

    Sanjit Chudha

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    • Related Links

    Tiscali Recycles

    Get up to &pound150 by recycling your old mobile phone. Get paid to recycle.

    Tiscali Recycles

    Get up to £150 for your old mobile and help the environment.

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