And we all go WEEE!

It stands for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive and has just become law here in the UK (July 1st). This European-wide piece of legislation aims to reduce the amount of e-waste from homes and businesses that ends up in landfill sites.

It requires member nations to collect and recycle around 4kg of e-waste (PCs, TVs, games consoles, communications equipment, etc) for every person living in that country.

I just changed a large kitchen appliance and it cost me £9.00 to have my old (broken) piece of equipment taken away when the new one was delivered, which I thought was good value. Now manufacturers, importers and retailers of electronic and electrical goods have to put systems in place that allow customers to recycle their obsolete devices free of charge.

No more trips to the dump then! Retailers, for example, must either offer a free in-store "take-back" service or help fund improvements to local councils' recycling facilities.

More details on the European Commission website.

[Via BBC News]