Both directives are intended to improve our environment and reduce the amount of landfill waste. In the following section we have endeavoured to provide some basic information to make you aware of what the legislation requires and what actions Rapid is taking to ensure compliance.

On the 2 January 2007 the UK Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations came into force. WEEE is a new piece of producer responsibility legislation which aims to reduce the amount of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) ending up in landfill. Instead the regulations require the collection, treatment, recycling and environmentally sound disposal of WEEE. The regulations affect all brand owners, importers and distributors or retailers of EEE.

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations became law at the beginning of the year. This new legislation places the responsibility for the environmental sound management of WEEE on producers of electrical equipment. All producers, regardless of their size will be required to register with a compliance scheme by 15th March and provide information on the weight of products put on the market.

From the 1st July 2007 'Producers' of EEE will have the responsibility of financing the collection, and subsequent treatment, reuse, recovery, recycling and environmentally sound disposal of the WEEE for which they have an obligation.

RAPID in partnership with WeeeCare will comply with these regulations in the most environmentally friendly method. WeeeCare has over 20 years experience of handling, treating and recycling WEEE and they have a national collection operation using their own fleet of vehicles.

The RoHS (Restriction Of use of certain Hazardous Substances) directive will require that new equipment sold within the European Community from the 1st July 2006, (apart from some exceptions that are still to be confirmed), will not contain any of the following substances in quantities above the prescribed levels in each homogenous material*:

0.01% Cadmium.
0.10% Lead, Mercury, Hexavalent Chromium and Polybrominated Biphenyls (PBB) and Polybrominated Diphenyl ethers (PBDE).

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