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This is a situation that needs to be resolved. As Van Danzig was keen to point out, "Existing contracts for collection and recycling need to be recognised in framing the new arrangements for WEEE. Compliance schemes must ensure that their members pay only for the collection and recycling of obligated material, and that costs are controlled and predictable."

Takeback schemes

Reuse is also an aim of the WEEE Directive. This doesn't happen with products taken to refuse sites. Products are often too old, have been badly damaged in transport or have been exposed to rain and snow. Some manufacturers are running schemes of their own, however.

HP has run takeback schemes where people are encouraged to bring in their old kit for refurbishment. A recent series of events resulted in 5.5 tonnes of old kit being brought in, of which 45 per cent was refurbished for children's charities. Dell has a scheme for individual users and businesses (www.euro.dell.com/recycling), whereby it collects functioning computers when new ones are delivered. However, it doesn't refurbish PCs for reuse. It works with recycling partners, who may reuse some functioning parts of a system but also remove materials such as copper and plastic, for use in making new products or for environmentally friendly disposal.

To make sure your computer is refurbished for reuse, particularly if it is still in good working order, try donating it to ComputerAid (www.computeraid.org). This charity specialises in refurbishing IT equipment to a professional standard for use in developing countries

Implementation

The WEEE Directive has been implemented in the UK to fit in with existing methods of practice. Biffa Waste Services is one of the UK's largest waste management companies. Biffa also runs a PCS, which means that, for manufacturers who use its scheme, it manages the paperwork and collects WEEE from businesses and local authority sites. It also operates some local authority sites. Phil Conran, general manager of recycling development at Biffa Waste Services, described this as "part of a general trend towards more recycling that has been happening for some time. Only a very small proportion of the waste stream is WEEE."

Even so, there's a substantial cost attached to the implementation of this directive. In 2006, the government estimated that this could be between £111 million and £133 million for 2007, possibly rising to between £331 million and £434 million by 2017.

Clearly, producers won't be paying for collection and treatment entirely out of their own pockets. The costs will eventually be passed on to the consumer through higher prices. According to analyst firm Gartner, meeting the requirements of the new directive will add up to £33 to the price of a new computer.

Returns policy

Retailers have to provide some method of takeback for old electrical products when you buy a new one - that is, when you're replacing like with like. A retailer could be a high street shop, a mail order company or an online store. So if you buy a new inkjet printer, the store would have to take back your old dot-matrix printer no matter who made it or where you bought it. They can either do this in store, or opt out and join the distributor takeback scheme (DTS). This means they don't have to take back the products in store, but can direct customers to a DCF. Money from the DTS goes to local authorities to help them handle WEEE. The containers used by DCFs to collect WEEE are provided by compliance schemes but there are other costs, such as erecting appropriate signs, that need to be covered by the council. For this reason, £10 million from the DTS will be given to local authorities to enhance DCF sites.