Businesses Face New Waste Rules Challenge
- Author: John Neil
- Published: 02/08/2007
Business insurance broker Alan Boswell Group highlights the importance of complying with new waste regulations.
From July 1st 2007, producers of electrical goods have been required to meet the environmental costs of dealing with waste products. These rules apply to any company which manufactures, imports or rebrands electrical goods in Europe.
All companies had to join an approved compliance scheme by 15 March 2007 to ensure they were able to comply with the directive from 1st July 2007.
Growing Environmental Problem
The background to the changes is that electrical waste such as toasters, fridges and washing machines are a growing environmental problem in the UK with over 2 million tonnes being dumped in landfill last year alone.
There was previously no incentive for those that produce them to care about the life cycle of their electrical products. These regulations will mean they can no longer shirk this responsibility.
Producer Responsibility
Producers of electrical equipment will have to finance the treatment, recovery and environmentally safe disposal of waste - commonly referred to as "producer responsibility".
The WEEE regulations will enable consumers to dispose of their electrical waste free of charge at "accessible and appropriate places". According to the Government, consumers should now see changes in place with new signage at their local council refuse centres, in shops, and on new electrical products.
The WEEE Regulations will also offer distributors a choice on how to meet their obligations - by either joining the Distributor Take-back Scheme (DTS) or by offering customers in-store take-back.
The Government is also hoping that the new rules will encourage the re-use of equipment after it has been discarded.
Retailers' Obligations
Retailers will be obliged to offer take-back services to householders, and although the rules do not place any obligations on householders - who will not be prohibited from throwing WEEE away with general domestic rubbish - they will ensure that there is a network of facilities in place where used equipment can be returned free of charge.
The situation is not quite so straightforward for business-users of electrical equipment, and the Environment Agency has committed to issuing advice to businesses on how they will be affected, following publication of the regulations.
Distributor Take-back Scheme
The DTI also announced that it was appointing Valpak Retail WEEE Services as the operator of the Distributor Take-back Scheme (DTS), funded by £10m from retailers.
The scheme will establish a network of designated collection facilities where consumers can get rid of their electrical waste. The money will primarily be paid to local authorities to assist in the improvement of civic amenity sites so that electrical waste can be separately collected there.
More Information
UK businesses are faced with a growing raft of environmental regulations. Alan Boswell Group advises business insurance clients on a range of risk management issues. We also arrange directors and officers liability insurance to address the personal risks faced by the management of our corporate insurance clients.
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