IT departments risk incurring fines if they ignore the
introduction of the European Union's waste electrical and
electronics equipment (WEEE) directive, which aims to cut
electronic waste by encouraging recycling.
"IT managers and directors need to get their act together," said
Hugh Peltor, a director at Intellect, an association that
represents the IT, telecoms and electronics industries. "They need
to read and know the WEEE directive thoroughly and be aware the
clock is ticking."
The WEEE directive came into force on 13 February and will become
UK law by August 2004. Although the collection and safe disposal of
IT equipment will be the responsibility of suppliers, the financing
and the disposal of "historical" waste will also affect IT
departments.
Firms found not complying with the terms of WEEE, such as disposing
of old electrical kit in landfill sites or fly-tipping, risk
punitive fines.
"IT managers need to be aware of the issues," said Pete Kenyon, a
solicitor in the technology and commerce group at law firm Boyes
Turner.
"The main implication is that some of the burden of financing will
rest with businesses until 2005. Only after that will it rest with
the producers. And if you are not replacing kit you will still be
responsible for getting rid of it," he said.
Phil Reakes, managing director of recycling and re-use firm Selway
Moore, said IT directors need a policy for the disposal of old kit
that also takes into account other UK legislation such as the Data
Protection Act.
"This is a security issue, not just an environmental issue," he
said. It was inevitable that the costs suppliers will incur after
2005 for the collection and disposal of old hardware would be
passed onto users, he added.
Another major concern surrounding the introduction of the WEEE
directive in the UK is the apparent lack of infrastructure to
handle the large scale recycling of electronic equipment.
"A key question is whether the infrastructure is there to deal with
recycling in the UK, and at the moment the answer is no," said
Peltor. He urged the government to do more to support the
directive. "We want to recycle equipment here, not ship it halfway
around the world," he said.