Small businesses still struggling with recycling rules

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 25 Jun 2008 at 17:49

A year after the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations were introduced, one in five companies still don't know the benefits apply to them, according to a new study.

The WEEE regulations were introduced in July of 2007, with the aim of ensuring manufacturers of electrical equipment and the businesses using it, dispose of their old equipment in an environmentally-responsible way.

This means that when disposing of equipment bought after 13 August 2005, a business simply needs to contact the supplier who will then collect it and ensure it's disposed of properly.

Despite this, a survey of a 100 small businesses conducted by Dell found that while 81% were aware of the legislation, 22% did not realise it applied to them.

The survey also turned up some other surprising statistics, including the fact that more companies use power-management software (29.7%) than use duplex printing (14.4%), a relatively simple cost saving, green exercise.

Over half of respondents admitted to not employing green IT products, such as energy-efficient servers and printers, simply because they didn't feel well enough informed of the benefits.

"There is still work to be done by the Government and vendors in educating businesses about IT equipment disposal responsibilities," says John Holbrow, Federation of Small Businesses environment chairman.

"Alongside more widely-embraced green initiatives such as reducing power consumption and paper use, responsible IT disposal is a legal requirement with cost implications for those who do not comply."