Majority of SMEs in retail still unaware of WEEE regulations

One year after new legislation came into force, a survey has found that small and medium sized businesses across the UK are still unaware of the 2006 Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations - meaning that many SMEs in the retail sector may be missing out on cost savings and neglecting their environmental responsibilities.

The SME-nvironment survey, commissioned by environmental guidance website www.netregs.gov.uk, found that only 12 per cent of SMEs could name the WEEE Regulations unprompted, and just a third (36 per cent) had heard of them once they were named.

SMEs that are still ignoring WEEE legislation could be paying the price through avoidable waste charges and unnecessary effort in disposing of their own electrical waste.

The WEEE Regulations were introduced in January 2007 to reduce the amount of electrical waste going to landfill, and is one of the most universally-relevant of all environmental regulations - UK businesses throw away one million tonnes of WEEE every year. For equipment purchased since August 2005, the regulations now put responsibility for waste disposal on the producers.

Richard Martin, NetRegs programme manager, comments "SMEs generate 60 per cent of all commercial waste in England and Wales so it's critical that all users of electrical equipment understand what WEEE means for them - and it is worrying that only 1 in 8 SMEs are aware of WEEE legislation unprompted."

The WEEE Regulations require producers of electrical and electronic equipment to join a Producer Compliance Scheme and to take responsibility for the treatment, collection and recycling of any waste electronic equipment produced by them since August 2005. For business users of WEEE it means that they may return their end of life electrical equipment to the producer and may no longer need to pay to send their electrical waste to landfill.

"The good news for SMEs is that WEEE legislation can help businesses dispose of their electrical waste products sustainably - in many cases, at no cost. Where previously businesses may have had to pay for a skip, now they can contact the producer of electrical goods they purchased since 2005 to dispose of their WEEE. We strongly recommend that SMEs incorporate WEEE into their procurement procedures, so that when buying a new piece of equipment they check that the producer is legally registered and already conforms to WEEE. At the end of the equipment's life, disposal should be easier and should also improve the SME's green credentials."

While the www.netregs.gov.uk study found that 48 per cent of SMEs had introduced practical measures to reduce environmental harm, the percentage familiar with WEEE is much lower - with certain sectors performing significantly below average. Unsurprisingly, those in electronics and electricals manufacturing are better informed, with 33 per cent able to name WEEE unprompted (compared with a cross-sector average of 12 per cent naming WEEE and 24 per cent able to name any one piece of legislation). The study found that textiles and clothing manufacturers also showed above average awareness of WEEE (17 per cent), while businesses in agriculture (2 per cent) and transport (5 per cent) have a long way to go to get to grips with the legislation.