Individual producer responsibility and EcoDesign
A producer who implements an ENVIRON web-based system for managing collection, treatment and recovery of WEEE is adopting a true Individual Producer Responsibility approach to complying with the UK WEEE Regulations. With this web-based system the producer:
- communicates its collection and recycling arrangements to business end-users of the products which it is responsible for;
- ensures that all new and historic WEEE is separately collected and sent to its appointed recycler;
- establishes a contract with the recycler and pays for the actual costs of recycling their equipment.
ENVIRON's recommended Pan-European recycler has made a policy commitment to introduce lower recycling fees for producers who apply EcoDesign techniques to make their products easier to reuse and recycle at end-of-life. This provides a direct economic incentive for producers to implement EcoDesign to reduce their future WEEE compliance costs.
ENVIRON has extensive consulting experience in helping companies to gain cost and environmental benefits from EcoDesign. ENVIRON has specialist expertise in EcoDesign in the electronics sector from a wide range of projects over the past seven years. ENVIRON was one of only eight EcoDesign consultants appointed by the UK Government Agency Envirowise to advise small and medium sized companies on implementation of EcoDesign approaches. ENVIRON wrote the DTI/DEFRA Guide to Sustainable Design of Electrical and Electronic Products to Control Costs and Comply with Legislation. The Guide was published in 2003 by the UK Government Agency Envirowise, and was endorsed by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), the Institute of Electrical Engineers (IEE), and the UK umbrella trade association for the electronics industry (INTELLECT).
In 2007 ENVIRON launched a new suite of EcoDesign consulting services to provide targeted assistance to companies who want to improve the recyclability of their products. See www.eup-ecodesign.com for details.
For further information, please contact Aidan Turnbull
Head of WEEE, RoHS & EcoDesign on +44 (0)1225 748420
