WEEE Regulations
The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive) was introduced into UK law in January 2007 by the Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment Regulations 2006. The WEEE Directive aims to reduce the amount of electrical and electronic equipment being produced and to encourage everyone to reuse, recycle and recover it. The regulations mean that suppliers of equipment like high street shops and internet retailers must allow consumers to return their waste equipment.
The amount of WEEE we throw away is increasing by around 5% each year, making it the fastest growing waste stream in the UK.
Much of the UK’s WEEE ends up in landfill, where the lead and other toxins it contains can cause soil and water contamination. This can have a harmful effect on natural habitat, wildlife and also human health.
Many electrical items that we throw away can be repaired or recycled. Recycling items helps to save our natural finite resources and also reduces the environmental and health risks associated with sending electrical goods to landfill.
Retailers of new Electric and Electronic Equipment (EEE) have a part to play in reducing the amount of WEEE going into landfill sites.
Under the WEEE Regulations, all new electrical goods should now be marked with the crossed-out wheeled bin symbol shown below:
Goods are marked with this symbol to show that they were produced after 13th August 2005 and should be disposed of separately from normal household waste so that they can be recycled.
Our Role
As a responsible retailer, we offer our customers the option to return WEEE products to us on a like-for-like basis when purchasing new Electrical or Electronic products from us. For example, if a customer buys a radio system from us then we will accept the return of an old radio system and prevent it going into a landfill site by disposing of it safely. Customers must return their WEEE item to us within 14 days of purchasing their new item.
E. & O. E.