Posts Tagged ‘glasgow eee’
9 Charged over WEEE
Nine people have been charged in what was the biggest investigation ever into illegal electrical waste exports from the UK to West Africa.
All nine have been charged with offences under the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007 and European Waste Shipment Regulations 2006 and bailed to attend Havering Magistrates Court on November 11.
As we should all be aware of the WEEE regulations. We should therefore know that it is illegal for UK businesses to send electronic waste abroad to be dumped.
Officers from the Environment Agency’s National Crime Team began their investigations in the middle of 2008. They claim to have uncovered a network of individuals, waste companies and export businesses involved in the export of electrical waste.
In some instances, it is alleged by the agency that ‘considerable sums’ of money changed hands in deals to collect and recycle electrical waste while treatment costs were avoided. And this is a crime under WEEE regulations.
There’s also evidence of the waste being dumped in Africa, illegally. The companies who are allegedly involved potentially avoided having to pay huge fees.
The Agency’s crime team manager, Andy Higham, has said: “Over the past two years painstaking intelligence work by Environment Agency officers has uncovered a web of individuals and companies that appear to be making considerable sums of money by exporting electrical waste overseas.”
Exporters of broken electricals put at risk the lives of those who work on waste sites in developing countries.
These are often children who are paid a pittance to dismantle products containing hazardous waste.
Illegal exporters also avoid the costs of recycling in the UK and undermine law-abiding business.
It is always a crime to export broken electrical equipment and hazardous waste from the UK to developing countries to be dumped.
The last thing we want is our waste causing harm to people or the environment overseas.
We at Go Green can help ensure that you are complying with your legal responsibilities. At Go Green, we offer solutions for a variety of Environmental issues. Please click on the following link to contact us.
What small scale manufacturers and retailers need to know about WEEE
What small scale manufacturers and retailers must know about WEEE:
Glasgow based, indeed UK based, manufacturers and retailers of electronic equipment have been slow to catch on to their WEEE obligations. As this is the fastest growing area of waste in the UK it’s imperative that they take on board what they are legally obliged to do.
The environment agency does not differentiate between size of companies. For example a PC retailer could put together a single PC for a client on a bespoke basis. Under the WEEE directive this retailer now has obligations under the producer (manufacturer) regulations. They must join a producers scheme, take back the clients’ old PC (all retailers must offer a take back scheme on a like for like basis), and have the WEEE recycled at their expense and not their clients’.
The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive 2002/96/EC of the European Union aims at minimization of the impact of Electrical Waste (discarded or end-of-life electrical or electronic equipment – EEE), on the environment by increasing re-use and recycling and reducing the amount of WEEE going to landfills. It is closely linked to the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive 2002/95/EC which seeks to limit the presence of six hazardous materials in electrical and electronic equipment.
There are 10 categories of electronic waste or e-waste that fall under the WEEE Directive, plus a further 2 which fall under RoHS, large and small household appliances, infact any sort of electical or electronic product. E-waste in this directive means electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) designed for use with voltage ratings of up to 1000V ac or 1500V dc. Hence manufacturers of all electronic goods used in day to day life, fall under the purview of the directive. Since the consequences of non-compliance are serious (including possible ban on doing business in EU countries), manufacturers need to be conversant with the WEEE and the related RoHS directives.
The WEEE Directive seeks to minimize the environmental impact of e-waste by mandating its collection, treatment, recovery and/or recycling to be facilitated and financed by producers. It also proposes that consumers be able to return their waste equipment free of charge. Manufacturers, therefore, need to assess the impact of these requirements and initiate appropriate action for implementation.
This involves setting up collection centers for e-waste, arrangements for transportation to the recovery and/or recycling centers, facilities for recycling and determination of final disposal options, all at the manufacturers expense.
Recovery and recycling of electronic waste is specialist work, recycling plants must conform to minimum standards.
It is very important for a manufacturer to also understand the importance of certain pre-sales actions which must also be adhered to in order to meet compliance of the WEEE regulations.
For Example:
Design equipment which can be dismantled into the smallest possible parts and components. This will facilitate recovery of the parts for reuse; a more economical proposition than say, recycling.
Ensure labeling of products adheres to the requirements of the WEEE Directive including a “Do Not Landfill” note.
Reduction of hazardous material content in the product greatly reduces the need for expensive recovery efforts. It also contributes to overall environmental conservation. For this reason, the importance of RoHS compliance of products and processes cannot be over emphasized. The sooner manufacturers recognize this fact; the better their profits will be long term.
Further, the WEEE Directive is based on Article 175 of the EC (European Community) Treaty – the Treaty establishing the European Union. This allows member states to include additional products so long as they countries adhere to European Community laws governing overall trade and commerce within and beyond the EU. Manufacturers must stay compliant with more environmentally sound practices and current WEEE changes. They also need to be aware of the implication of such changes on their businesses.
At Go Green, we offer solutions for a variety of Environmental issues. Please click on the following link to contact us.
New Plastic Recycling Discovery!
A new technique has been developed to recycle plastic which would normally end up in landfill.
At persent approximately 12% of plastic found in household plastic and packaging is currently processed.
Now, however, a process has been developbed by Warwick University which could mean 100% of this type is waste can be recycled.
Municipal plastic solid waste is often too time-consuming and labour intensive to separate and clean and ends up going straight to landfill rather than being recycled.
Engineers at the University have invented a process that can cope with every piece of plastic waste and can even break some polymers, such as polystyrene, back down to its original monomers.
The researchers have devised a unit which uses pyrolysis (using heat in the absence of oxygen to decompose of materials) in a ‘fluidised bed’ reactor.
Tests have shown that the researchers have been able to literally shovel in to such a reactor a wide range of mixed plastics, which can then be reduced down to useful products. Many of these products can then be retrieved by simple distillation.
The products the Warwick team have been able to reclaim from the plastic mix include: wax that can be then used a lubricant; original monomers such as styrene that can be used to make new polystyrene; terephthalic acid which can be reused in PET plastic products, methylmetacrylate that can be used to make acrylic sheets, carbon which can be used as Carbon Black in paint pigments and tyres, and even the char left at the end of some of the reactions can be sold to use as activated carbon at a value of at least £400 a tonne.
This research could have a significant impact on the budgets of local authorities and produce considerable environmental benefits.
The lead researcher on the project, University of Warwick Engineering Professor Jan Baeyens, said:
“We envisage a typical large scale plant having an average capacity of 10,000 tonnes of plastic waste per year.
“In a year tankers would take away from each plant over £5 million worth of recycled chemicals and each plant would save £500,000 a year in land fill taxes alone.
“As the expected energy costs for each large plant would only be in the region of £50,000 a year the system will be commercially very attractive and give a rapid payback on capital and running costs.”
The work will be of great interest to local authorities and waste disposal companies who could use the technology to create large scale reactor units at municipal tips which would produce tanker loads of reusable material.
At Be Seen Go Green, we offer solutions for a variety of Environmental issues. Please click on the following link to contact us.
Why Recycle My Computer?
Electronic rubbish, and computer equipment in particular, is a rapidly expanding stream of UK waste. Low prices allow consumers to replace “gadgets” often, and rapid technological change means there are always newer, better, more powerful products on the market. The result is a burgeoning computer waste mountain. For example up to 30 million “obsolete” PCs are discarded annually in the USA alone.
Why is it important to recycle computer equipment?
Also known as e-waste, discarded computer equipment comprises monitors, printers, hard drives and circuit boards. Such items should on no account be thrown out with your household rubbish because they contain toxic substances, and are effectively hazardous waste. E-waste often ends up in the developing world, and the UN’s Environment Programme is alarmed by the amount of electronic goods which is improperly disposed of overseas. There is increasing concern about the pollution caused by hazardous chemicals and heavy metals in Africa, Asia and South America.
| What’s in my PC? | |
| Material | Proportion |
| Plastic Ferrous metals Non-ferrous metals Electronic boards Glass |
23% 32% 18% 12% 15% |
A single computer can contain up to 2kg of lead, and the complex mixture of materials make PCs very difficult to recycle.
This is why the WEEE regulations came in to being, imagine what would happen if we continued to send
the above to landfill?
At Go Green, we offer solutions for a variety of Environmental issues. Please click on the following link to contact us.
Recycling: It Really Is Simple, Try It
There is actually a lot of things that you can recycle: Electrical & Electronic equipment, Water, Energy, Paper, Metal, Aluminium Cans, Glass, Plastic, Styrofoam, Steel, & even junk mail. All of these things, as you know, could end up in a landfill or even worse, in the sea.
The basics of Recycling is to gather items that have been used and reprocess. Allowing them to be used againand again; simple?
Of course you don’t do this yourself, or could you? When we recycle, pretty much means that energy is saved. When a manufacturing company decides to make new stuff out of old stuff, it saves a lot of energy. A good example of this would be the recycling of cardboard, used in hospital bedpans for example; all of the carboard in the bedpans is recycled & can be recycled again.
By Recycling you not only make this planet a better place to live, but also reduce pollution & improve environmental conditions. By simply recycling as much as we can, you help prevent the global climate change, reduce greenhouse gases and cut the amount of fuel used!
By doing all this, it leads to us and companies saving natural resources. For example: If the all the tabloid newspapers were to recycle all of the newspapers that they print every single day, there wouldn’t be the need to cut & kill a thousand trees a day.
Trees in different rain forests are being cut down at an alarming rate, according to some researchers we could see no more trees left in a few years time, though how accurate that statement is I do not know, but it stands to reason that if you continue to take more than you put back eventually you will be left with nothing. This is the same with all fossil fuels as well.
Not only are you helping the world, but you’re saving money!
It is expensive to start production on new products with new materials, manufacturers are going to want that money reimbursed so they can continue making the expensive products. When you buy things that are recycled, it’s obviously cheaper to make, though the marketeers of the large manufacturers would have us believe otherwise, greenwashing at it’s worst! In effect we should be able to buy recycled goods for a low price. Even when you think about it, all the waste & rubbish that isn’t recycled is taking up space in landfills, which are fast becoming full.
Whatever you may think about recycling, be it, in your opinion, another “hippie” movement, at be motivated to do your part, the alternatives, fines for not recycling and destruction of our world as we know it, it unthinkable. No One is saying you have to become obsessed with it, all that is being suggested is that every little bit you can do is a step in the right direction. The Earth has provided a place to live, grow food, provide raw materials, it’s our turn to think and act responsibly to ensure it continues to do so for future generations.
Recycling is simple, whether it be at home or in the office. Take a look around and look at how much waste that is “thrown” in the bin. Almost all office waste can be recycled simply, it just needs someone like you to get the ball rolling and it won’t just be the environment that benefits.
At Be Seen Go Green, we offer solutions for a variety of Environmental issues. Please click on the following link to contact us.
Computer Retailers & Manufacturers Need To Be More Responsible
Computer Aid International has called for companies involved with IT to be more responsible for the environmental cost of their products.
The organisation has produced a report: Green ICT: what producers must do, which blames original equipment manufacturers for poor practice and pollution in production.
A manufacturer, in terms of The WEEE Directive, is any organisation who builds computers, ranging from your Joe Bloggs PC retailer in the high street to the Multinationals such as Dell, they are both treated equally!
They say that manufacturers need to take responsibility for the entire life-cycle of their products.
The report argues that most environmental damage of computing happens during manufacturing; for instance, 80% of the energy used over a PC’s lifecycle is used before it is switched on for the first time.
The report cites mining materials and the excessive use of toxic chemicals in production as the source of the enormous carbon footprint made by manufacturing and its global sourcing and distribution chains.
Computer Aid International CEO Tony Roberts said: “In Europe all ICT manufactures including HP, Samsung, Nokia, Apple, and small independants have a legal duty to fund the end of life recycling of equipment that they produced.
“Within Europe manufacturers fulfil this requirement of corporate social responsibility and are justifiably proud of their green credentials.
“However we would argue that they have exactly the same moral obligations where their products are sold in Africa, Asia and elsewhere.
“Most developing countries are entirely without the kind of facilities necessary to re-use and recycle ICTs and to recover the precious metals and other composite materials before they pollute the environment and threaten public health and safety.”
The report calls for producers to be responsible for the end-of-life management of their goods in all countries they operate in, not just in rich developed countries, so that all nations can build the operational capacity to re-use IT equipment and to recycle e-waste.
It says producers need to shift the cost of toxic, wasteful design away from communities and the environment back to themselves.
They call for producers to be forced to include the real costs of their goods through wide-ranging programmes that encourage eco-design
To find out how the WEEE directive affects you, whether you’re an end user, retailer or manufacturer, contact Be Seen Go Geen for advice and help
WEEE: Questions to ask yourself if you sell EEE
I sell directly to household users. Am I a distributor?
- Yes.
I sell EEE only to Organisations users. Am I a distributor?
- Yes, but some distributor obligations do not apply in relation to sales of non-household EEE.
However your customers may ask you for information about the registered producer of
the EEE, and that producer may ask you for information about non-household
customers and sales so that they can report their sales correctly. Please note sole traders and partnerships are classed as consumers.
I only sell second-hand equipment. Am I a distributor?
- Distributor obligations only apply in relation to the provision of EEE that has not been
previously placed on the UK market. However you will still require {permits, licences] to operate
I sell only ex-demonstration, mail-order returns, open-box or surplus EEE. Am I distributor?
- Yes, ex-demonstration, “open box” EEE and mail-order returns are regarded as new
EEE and therefore normal distributor obligations apply.
I provide EEE incidentally to my main business (credit card rewards, loyalty bonus, and advertising). Am I a distributor?
- Yes. If you provide EEE to household users on a commercial basis, then you are a
distributor.
If I allow take-back, do I have to allow consumers to bring back any WEEE?
- Consumers may bring back items of equipment which they are replacing with an
equivalent new product on a like-for-like basis. If you offer take-back you must do this
for all types of EEE you sell. So, for example, a consumer buying a new microwave
oven would be entitled to take-back of one old microwave oven as WEEE. You would
not be expected to take back a completely different type of equipment, for example a
washing machine for a DVD player.
What is “equivalent” WEEE?
- Distributors are expected to adopt a reasonable interpretation of equivalence. For
example, a customer should be allowed to bring back an old video cassette recorder
when purchasing a new DVD player/recorder, as even though this is not strictly a like-for-
like replacement, the new product is intended to fulfil the same function.
How long after a purchase should I give consumers to bring back their WEEE?
- The WEEE Regulations do not lay down a minimum period for which take-back should
be offered. However, given that it is unlikely that customers will carry WEEE with them
while shopping, distributors are should accept WEEE within a reasonable period following a sale (e.g. 28 days). You may wish to endorse the sales receipt to govern
deferred in-store take-back of WEEE
Are faulty items returned to me classed as WEEE?
- No. Items intended for repair and return to use are not regarded as waste. However,
once it becomes clear that items are beyond repair and hence are to be discarded they
should be regarded as WEEE. From this point they should be dealt with in accordance
with the WEEE Regulations.
Can I charge customers if I offer collection-on-delivery services?
- It remains at the discretion of retailers whether to charge or not for any collection on
delivery services that they provide to consumers, but any such services would not fulfil
your take-back obligations.
How do I do take-back if I am a mail order distributor?
- Distance sellers must either join the DTS, offer in-store take-back through one of their
local stores (where these exist) or provide the customer with an alternative local route
for free take-back. The distributor must tell customers how they can dispose of WEEE,
for example via their catalogue, website, sales receipts, or through a leaflet included
with the purchase.
The producer demands a large product display to show his recycling costs. What should I do?
- The WEEE Regulations give producers the right to display any costs associated with
recycling historical WEEE. A distributor of EEE may not obscure or remove a sticker on
the product, but would not be obliged to erect an in-store display with the costs.
Producers and distributors may negotiate between themselves the appropriate means
of display.
At Be Seen Go Green, we offer solutions for a variety of Environmental issues. Please click on the following link to contact us.
Waste Management| Made simple
Mention waste management to most folks and they either don't have a clue what you're talking about, or they actually aren't interested! It just sounds a load of rubbish, what do you care what other folks do with stuff they don't want? Nonetheless, once you begin delving into what waste management is all about, then you realise there’s a entire cycle of events going on and it's quite an interesting topic to discover about.
Waste management is essentially how rubbish and trash is disposed of with out causing any harm to others or the environment. You will find several aspects to waste management; these include monitoring, collection, transportation, processing, and disposal or recycling. When carried out properly, waste management is efficient and incredibly environmentally friendly, and in today’s world is some thing each and every conscientious firm ought to take responsibility for.
You will find specialized environmental firms that supply advice and services for waste collection, not just for householders, but also for industries and companies. They're experienced in all areas of waste management solutions and will remove all of your waste efficiently and speedily, transporting it to be disposed of in the correct manner, or recycled.
A few of the waste services provided to industrial clients include waste collection, recycling and disposal, hazardous waste management, emergency response, laboratory services, asbestos removal and re-Insulation.
Inside the 1st instance the environment service is concerned with monitoring, this is to identify the sort of waste produced and in what quantity; they can then evaluate the processes they must put into place to decrease the amount of waste produced. Records are kept to see if strategies put into place are working and, if not, techniques might be changed and re-examined to make their implementation far more efficient.
Once the waste has been monitored and assessed it's time for the collection method. Skip bins and containers need to be emptied just before they become too full and prevention of overspill or produce to rot is really critical. Depending on the amount of waste produced will dictate the size and number of containers required, and how frequently collections will probably be necessary. You will find diverse containers for every sort of waste, some of these include drums for hazardous liquid waste, tanks for acid or caustic waste, collection bins for e-waste and bulk bins and skip bins for construction site waste.
Next in the cycle is organizing the transportation of all waste goods collected.Specially designed waste vehicles make scheduled collections and are responsible for safely transporting it to the landfill, or treatment site where it'll be treated and then processed for Recycling. Vehicles need to meet safety standards and be licensed for this purpose, as waste might be a health hazard and even dangerous if not handled properly, drivers and personnel connected with the transportation are required to have the necessary training and expertise to deal with any prospective danger.
Once the waste has all been collected it needs to be processed. This involves separating the waste collected, treating and then packaging the raw materials and sending the parts that can be recycled to the several factories which are all part of the recycling process. Materials that can’t be recycled will probably be transported to a landfill, and liquid and hazardous wastes will probably be disposed of safely.
Improvements and new practices in waste management and environmental solutions are in the news all the time, thanks to research and development projects which are committed to finding far more efficient and safe techniques of disposing of waste. There are many things which are recyclable now that just a few years ago would have been thrown into a rising landfill, everyday items including paper, glass, newspapers and plastic bags to printer cartridges, corks, mobile phones, even fluorescent lamps might be treated and re-used.
Society has experienced a massive learning curve in the reality that if we don't take action now to make certain our waste is processed properly; nature will gladly do it for us, and in techniques which might be detrimental to our environment.