From 2016, WEEE such as PCs which are sold to businesses maybe classed as ‘household’ WEEE

In June the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) put forward proposals to address the difference after the Commission published an FAQ document on the WEEE Directive which stated that WEEE from businesses should be considered as being from a household source, if it is similar in nature to that produced by households.

This was at odds with the UK’s definitions of business and household WEEE which hinged on the quantity of WEEE being presented for collection.

In a bulletin created last year, BIS revealed that it is to change the UK definition of ‘dual use’ WEEE to incorporate the Commission’s guidance.

BIS will be amending statutory guidance to place the onus on producers to determine whether an item is dual use based on its product design, intended use and whether it is likely to arise as waste from households.

The guidance will come into effect from January 2016, to allow schemes, producers and treatment facility operators time to adjust to the changes.

So at Secure Data Recycling we ask the question…why does this matter?

BIS stated: “The purpose of this work will be to inform guidance that we will publish to assist producers and recyclers to correctly classify EEE and WEEE as either household or non-household.  We aim to conclude this work by March 2015. Producers, using this guidance, would then be required to classify products placed on the UK market as either household or non household in 2015. That data would then be used to apportion the 2016 household WEEE collection targets according to market share.”

It basically simplifies things, up until now PC’s have been classified as non-household products even if they are used by you in your home.

The bottom line is that all PC’s at some point need recycling so it’s best to contact Secure Data Recycling and let us worry about the latest legislation!