The Big Issue

One of the environmental regulations likely to have a huge impact on the UK is the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive, which became law on Tuesday 2 January 2007.

The WEEE Directive promotes the re-use, recycling and recovery of electrical and electronic equipment. In simple terms, the cost of dealing with waste equipment is being transferred from the local authorities to the ‘producers’ of equipment. A ‘producer’ is the entity that puts the equipment onto the UK market, so we are not just talking about the manufacturer.

By 15 March, all producers will have to register with an approved Government compliance scheme, while all of the ‘producer’-related WEEE obligations come into force on 1 July.

The BSIA was involved at all stages of the consultation on the WEEE Directive, and will continue its involvement as and when the regulations are amended. In turn, this has allowed the Association to keep members fully informed about the regulations and their impact on security businesses operating across the UK.

Earlier this year, a good deal of hard work was the remit for several BSIA members tasked with devising a WEEE scheme that would suit our industry. Any scheme that is decided upon must be understood by all involved (ie the industry and its end users).

The BSIA will soon have in place a proposal for our producers. That proposal will take account of how equipment is placed on to the UK market and the current system of disposing of equipment. It will be cost-effective in order to minimise the cost that must be added-on to products. The scheme will deal with products when they become WEEE in all supply chain links.

The electronic security sector is working hard to become a ‘greener’ industry.