WEEE Regulations
The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive is now UK law. The legislation aims to make producers pay for the collection, treatment and recovery of waste electrical equipment. The regulations also mean that suppliers of equipment like high street shops and internet retailers must allow consumers to return their waste equipment free of charge.
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.
Distributors of new Electric and Electronic Equipment (EEE) have a part to play in reducing the amount of WEEE going into landfill sites.
Thorne Air Conditioning and their associate Air Conditioning Sales would normally be obliged under these regulations to offer our domestic customers free take-back of their WEEE on a like-for-like basis when they buy a new Electrical or Electronic product from us. Unfortunately the costs of complying with this legislation force us to refuse to sell any of our goods to domestic customers who already own an identical item that they will require to be removed for disposal. We can however sell any selected item to a domestic customer providing that this item does not replace an existing identical like-for-like item that requires to be disposed of.
For example, if a customer bought a new mobile air conditioning unit from us to replace an old original one, we would be forced to accept their old mobile air conditioning and prevent it going to a landfill site by disposing of it safely. The customer would also be required to return their unwanted like-for-like item to us within 28 days of purchasing their new item.
MARKINGS ON EQUIPMENT
Under the WEEE Regulations, all new electrical goods should now be marked with the crossed-out wheeled bin symbol shown alongside.
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.