Nearly half of small and medium-size businesses are unaware of the imminent arrival of new EU regulations that govern the disposal of electrical and electronic equipment, according to a recent survey by the online business-to-business retailer WStore.

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations – WEEE for short – come into force on 1 July 2007 in the fight to reduce the environmental consequences of the 2 million tonnes of equipment that the UK currently throws away every year.*

WHO’S RESPONSIBILITY IS IT?

The new rules are destined to have a major impact on everyone in the UK who uses, produces, distributes, sells or wants to get rid of items that work off electricity. But the main onus is on companies that are manufacturing, retailing or distributing new electrical and electronic products for domestic use by consumers: anything from modems, routers and PCs to fridges, home phones and toy train sets. According to the DTI site that’s providing guidelines on WEEE, they will now need to offer their customers facilities for the return of old equipment free of charge on the purchase of a replacement item.

LITTLE IMPACT ON BUSINESS TO BUSINESS – SO FAR

Companies that are distributing to business users, however, do not have to offer such a free take-back facility for their customers. But they may want to keep abreast of the new legislation so they can work more knowledgeably and effectively with their equipment suppliers and also be in a position to offer their business customers helpful advice on WEEE matters when they come looking for it – as they are very likely to.

There’s a currently a short practical guide to the WEEE regulations for the distributors of consumer equipment available for download from the DTI website. There are also other guides for manufacturers and general guidance about the regulations.

Small businesses customers looking for practical guidance on how to tackle their new ‘green responsibilities’ can find more at Netregs The government backed website that provides free environmental guidance for small businesses.