Householders and businesses in the UK throw away at least one million tonnes of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) each year, and this figure is estimated to be growing by up to 80,000 tonnes annually.
The recycling and treatment of EEE is not currently undertaken to a sufficient extent, so the introduction of the WEEE Directive in January 2007 introduced strict legislation to address the situation.
The WEEE Directive aims to both reduce the amount of electrical and electronic equipment being produced and to encourage everyone to reduce, reuse and recycle.
The Directive also aims to improve the environmental performance of businesses that manufacture, supply, use, recycle and recover electrical and electronic equipment.
Within the WEEE Directive is the Hazardous Waste Act 2005. Under this legislation any company that disposes of more than 500kg of hazardous electronic equipment per annum has to register with the Environment Agency as a producer of hazardous waste.
Under the WEEE Directive you cannot dump redundant electronic equipment, thus you will have to engage the services of a reputable IT disposal company. In addition to your recycling responsibilities, you must adhere to the Data Protection Act and ensure that all data is destroyed.
Contact r3 to ensure you adhere to all of the above regulations and ensure your compliance whilst disposing of your redundant IT.