Small firms ignorant over waste rules

Even though a key deadline passed last week, many SMEs are still oblivious to the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) directive, new research reveals. 

According to the poll by IT equipment reseller WStore, 47% of respondents admitted to being unaware of the packaging regulations and had never heard of the WEEE legislation. Another 60% were not implementing policies or procedures to cater for the new regulations.

The deadline for all producers to join an approved producer compliance scheme (PCS), to ensure they are able to comply with the directive, was 15 March. This deadline has cost implications for any business that doesn’t plan the disposal of unwanted IT equipment.

The WEEE directive was adopted by the EU in 2003 and aims to reduce the amount of WEEE being disposed in landfills by promoting separate collection, treatment and recycling.

All businesses that purchased waste equipment before 13 August 2005 (and are not replacing it with equivalent equipment) will have to arrange and pay for their WEEE to be disposed of by an approved treatment facility.

Stewart Hayward, WStore commercial director, said: "What these changes mean for anyone buying or selling IT equipment is that the costs of recovering and disposing of packaging materials and the equipment itself will be met by increased prices. Just assuming that you don't have to do anything, or that the problem will be someone else's responsibility, simply isn't good enough – as many smaller businesses may discover to their costs."

"Perhaps the most surprising finding of our survey has been that so many people haven’t even heard of the regulations, in spite of the increasing amount of attention the issue of recycling has received in the press in recent years," Hayward added.