Computer Recycling WEEE Regulations

When thinking about the disposal of your obsolete electronics or electrical wastes, businesses and registered bodies (including healthcare, government, education and charities) are required to use a legally compliant recycling route. In discharging what is known as their "Duty of Care", they are required to ensure the recycler is licenced to in effect "do what is legally required to meet certain legislation".

What do you need to do?

You first need to decide on the goods to be recycled. Next, consider the goods that are hazardous and those non-hazardous.

Hazardous goods consist of: Computer screens (monitors both CRT and TFT), flatbed scanners, laptops (screens), Universal Power supplies (Lead-acid batteries), very old computers (with large electrolytic capacitors and PCBs (Polychlorinated biphenyls)).

Do you have more than 200 kilograms of Hazardous waste (5 x cathode ray tube screens will be 200kgs- even if 15 inch). It doesn't matter if they are working, pristine, new or barely used. By opting for their recycling, you are declaring them as WASTE and they must be consigned as hazardous. If you do have more than 200kgs, then you must register with the Environment Agency.

The above provides you with a premises code (Hazardous waste producers licence), meaning that your building/ business/ legal entitiy can produce and "consign" hazardous waste. You will have to pay for your licence.  Online registration costs £18. Telephone registration costs £23 and paper registration is £28. 

Consigning your Waste

When you consign your waste, you are required to ensure that your chosen recycler is legally permitted to take away your waste and will discharge the necessary duty of care in ensuring it is recycled legally. In doing so:

Recycling your waste:

The WEEE directive has 2 exemption clauses within it, providing some very stringent rules. These (known as section 40 (formerly 49) and 50) apply to reuse and refurbishment of waste electrical and electronic equipment. Recyclers are permitted to operate under these rules only on the basis that equipment is not destroyed and is instead re-used in it's current form and without significant modification. For computers, a used computer shop or repair shop is legally required to operate under an exemption. If you know that your waste is truly obsolete or beyond repair, you shouldn't use this form of recycling. The generating of SCRAP, dismantling, refining etc is not permitted under an exemption (that's why we're going for a section 23 ATF permit and being allowed to continue trading- simply because we comply).

The second option is via a permitted ATF (Authorised treatment facility). The ATF must have a Number 23 permit (Treatment of WEEE) as there is very stringent control placed upon the recycling of electical and electronic goods.

A few things to note:

ATFs are required by law to employ competent people (certified by a body called RAMITAB and having an HND Level 4)- that's the same level as is required for an oil refinery. In effect, hazardous computer waste is considered very damaging to the environment and people if mis-treated. ATF's for WEEE use a system called BATRRT in the assesment and treatment of waste electrical/ electronic goods. Some equipment may be re-used and some dismantled. This is commonly know as the Best Available Treatment and recovery process.

Using a "free recycler" may not be a free service. You ought to ask how the equipment will be disposed of. The sale of and transcontinental shipment of computer waste may be involved and this may result in it being processed or dumped in a developing country. UK ports are now heavily policed to prevent container loads of unlicenced hazardous waste leaving our shores. If it's a free service you're looking for, you should consider removing all Asset labels and wiping your data from your computers before letting someone take them away. Make sure you don't leave yourself open to prosecution. Hazardous wastes such as CRT screens may end up being fly-tipped. The Basel action Network have compiled a list of Asset labels, removed from Computers dumped in Pakistan, China and India. Many of these companies are based in or are registered in the UK.

Proper recycling of CRT screens and other hazardous wastes costs money as the by-products can't be seperated without significant financial investment in processing equipment, employee training and licencing. It should cost you to have these goods recycled, particularly given the fact that they have no market if over 3 years old.

Chase up your chosen recycler.

When your waste has been collected, make sure you're told what has happened to it.

After the consignment:

You've consigned your waste and think the job's all done but you may not have discharged your duty of care completely. Your recycler is required to "consign" your hazardous wastes back to the Environment Agency. This means that any computer screens, scanners, latops or Universal Power suplies they collected must be notified to the Environment Agency as part of a quarterly report which includes the premises code belonging to you, at a cost of £10.00 per consignment. Once this is done, the circle is in effect complete and your waste is fully traceable from you to your recycler.