The UK finally implemented the WEEE (Waste Electronics and Electronics Existing) regulations on July 1, 2007, to reduce the environmental impact of waste electronics through reuse and recycling, instead of dumping them in already overflowing landfills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Technically speaking, end users are now not allowed to throw waste electronic products directly into the trash can; if they do not properly reuse and recycle waste electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE), they may theoretically face penalties from the Environmental Agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once notified of a need for processing, the product supplier is responsible for the collection and recycling of WEEE. For small companies, direct government registration is expensive, time-consuming, and labor-intensive; currently, approximately 37 organizations have been established to help reduce these costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The WEEE Directive, along with the RoHS Directive, was adopted in February 2003, with the shared goal of reducing waste in the environment. The existence of consumer product regulations led to confusion regarding the management of some commercial goods. Therefore, trade associations (including the UK's Laboratory Technology Industry Trade) spearheaded the creation of a non-profit organization called b2bcompliance. According to David Burton (b2bcompliance's planning director), this organization was established to protect the interests of its members and provide comprehensive customer service from registration to processing completion, as well as legal compliance documentation. Although the registration deadline was March 15, 2007, b2bcompliance still allowed producers to register and, together with the government, began searching for unregistered companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n