Concerns over the end of life treatment of electrical and electronic equipment has led the European Union (EU) to enact the directive on the treatment of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) that places certain responsibilities on the producer or importer of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE). All Member states (National Governments) are obligated to transpose and implement the Directive into national legislation.
The WEEE Directive was published in the Official Journal in February 2003 and came into force on 13 August 2005. The member states have at this time either implemented their National legislation or are in the process of doing so. Dell complies with the requirements of the WEEE directive as implemented in each member state and other European countries which have implemented similar legislation. At this time Dell has been actively involved in the 2008 review of the WEEE directive and will implement any changes as recommended by the review.
The main purposes of the directive are to:-
Reduce the waste arising from electrical and electronic equipment; and
Improve the environmental performance of all those involved in the life cycle of electrical and electronic equipment.
The Directive covers WEEE used by both Consumers and Businesses and works as follows:-
Private householders are able to return their WEEE to collection facilities free of charge; and
Producers (manufacturers, sellers, distributors) are responsible for financing the collection, treatment, recovery and disposal of WEEE deposited at these collection facilities by private householders.
Non-household users are able to return their WEEE to designated collection centres free of charge; and
Producers are responsible for financing the collection, treatment, recovery and disposal of WEEE from users other than private householders for products placed on the market after 13 August 2005 deposited at designated collection centres.
Producers may also be responsible for financing the management of WEEE from products placed on the market before 13 August 2005. This responsibility varies by country depending on the national implementation of WEEE. However, it may be possible for all or part of these costs to be recovered from users other than private householders.
The Directive also sets out collection targets to be achieved:-
Each country must have reached an average WEEE collection rate of four kilograms for each private householder annually.
Producers will be required to achieve a series of demanding recycling and recovery targets for different categories of appliance.
Dell as a corporation is required to comply with the requirements of the National WEEE legislation developed by the local Governments in each Member state where we are putting our products on the market. We have closely tracked the development of the National legislations and have followed the process at EU level for a long time.
We have made recycling and take-back services available for all customers as an extended Service and have expanded and developed our existing programs to ensure that we fully comply with WEEE.
Dell's goal is to provide an easy-to-use, affordable asset recovery services to either recycle, redeploy or donate obsolete IT equipment. At the same time helping to protect the confidential data and dispose of the hardware in a manner designed to safeguard the environment. Dell's policy is to build close Partnerships with specialized recyclers in order to provide the optimum solution(s) to meet both legal and customer requirements. We have developed a global environmental policy signed by Michael Dell, which specially states that Dell shall "Place a top priority on waste minimization, recycling and reuse programs, and pollution prevention." http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/corporate/environ/electronic_disposition_policy.pdf
Today Dell offers takes back and recycling services for any computer brand, not just Dell, and has done so for quite some time. To read more about our Asset Recovery Programs please visit: www.euro.dell.com/recycling or www.dell.com/recycling
