Information on the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive).

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive is now UK law. The legislation aims to make producers pay for the collection, treatment and recovery of waste electrical equipment. The regulations also mean that suppliers of electrical equipment, such as high street shops, and internet retailers like us, must allow consumers to return their waste equipment free of charge.

The amount of WEEE we throw away is increasing by around 5% each year, making it the fastest growing waste stream in the UK.

Much of the UK’s WEEE ends up in landfill, where the lead and other toxins it contains can cause soil and water contamination. This can have a harmful effect on natural habitat, wildlife and also human health.

Many electrical items that we throw away can be repaired or recycled. Recycling items helps to save our natural finite resources and also reduces the environmental and health risks associated with sending electrical goods to landfill.

Distributors of new Electric and Electronic Equipment (EEE) have a part to play in reducing the amount of WEEE going into landfill sites.

Covans complies with these regulations by offering our customers free take-back of their WEEE on a like-for-like basis when they buy a new Electrical or Electronic product from us.

For example, if a customer bought a new soldering iron from us, we would accept their old soldering iron back and prevent it going into a landfill site by disposing of it safely.

Customers can send to us (at their own expense) WEEE items within 28 days of purchasing a new item from us. (You don't need to have purchased the item for disposal from us).

Under the WEEE Regulations, all new electrical goods should now be marked with the crossed-out wheeled bin symbol shown below:



Goods are marked with this symbol to show that they were produced after 13th August 2005, and should be disposed of separately from normal household waste so that they can be recycled.

Customers can contribute towards re-use, recycling and other forms of recovery of WEEE by ensuring such marked goods are disposed of correctly.

If you have any questions on how or whether we can take back your waste electrical items, or for help and advice on how to do so, please call us on 01903 756724 or e-mail us at info@covans.co.uk.