Electrical and electronic waste

There are 10 categories of waste electrical and electronic equipment.

large household equipment
small household equipment
IT and telecommunications
consumer equipment
lighting equipment
electrical and electronic tools
toys leisure and sports equipment
medical devices
monitoring and control devices
automatic dispensers

Many electrical or electronic items that have outlived their life in FHE can still be relatively valuable to a number of individuals and organisations. Remember that Product Liability legislation means that liability cannot be disclaimed.

Items can be passed to organisations that are competent to check safety and undertake repair before selling them on, thus taking on board the liability themselves.
Confidential information stored on equipment must also be considered as its release could contravene the Data Protection Act. Hard disks should be reformatted or repartitioned to remove old data.
Items such as photocopiers, computers and printers can be obtained under hire agreements which require the supplier to take back the equipment at given intervals and supply new models. Check the purchasing and procurement options at your institution. However, the WEEE Directive is likely to increase flexibility and availability of take-back for electrical equipment.

ICER (Industry Council for Electronic Equipment Recycling) lists contacts for recycling some of these and other items (including telephones, faxes, computers etc).

Wasteonline has more information on all aspects of this issue.

See Legislation

See Product Liability Legislation

See Data Protection Act

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Electrical and electronic waste

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