WEEE Directive is poo.

W0LFIE

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The company I work for has loads of G4 macs + loads of other equipment that it no longer requires and is holding in storage. According to those that know the company cannot release this equipment because of the WEEE Directive.
Environment Agency - Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)

I asked if I could have or buy one of the macs off them and got a firm NO.
Apparently loads of the staff have asked but also been turned down.

If they sell them to us there's tax implications
If they give them to us there's the need to advertise to all staff and do some sort of fair lottery. This would require man hours that management can ill afford. We can't even give them to schools or charities and it's all down to this bloomin' WEEE Directive I'm told.

So they just sit there gathering dust ad infinitum.
Surely this is not what recycling is about!!!???

I've still to read the detail on the website but in the meantime does anyone found a loop hole whereby I can blag a computer off my employers without them having to jump through legislative hoops to do it.??:lease:
 
i don't know the legislation, but i don't think there is a law in place as such that prevents them from selling or giving away to staff, it sounds more like they are considering that if they do want to do that it's only fair to give everyone the opportunity, otherwise it could be more hassle than it's worth to deal with upset staff and low morale from people who don't score a computer

tax wise, if they sell it, regardless of who they sell it to, they have to pay VAT to the HMRC. they just collect the money in cash, or make a nett deduction from pay (not gross as that does affect tax)

it sounds more like they simply don't want to spend time and effort doing it, so your loophole idea isn't going to work. there could possibly be another explanation that they don't want to give, and what they have told you is the "official excuse"
 
Just nick one, tight wads! :)

joke
 
I believe it is because the company is liable if the equipment that they sell/give away causes any problems later eg: somebody gets an electric shock etc.

Normal practice is to sell the equipment to a 3rd party broker who re-sells and assumes the liability.

Typical EU balls up
 
Tell your boss you are prepared to offer your home as a free storage facility for a machine which they can have back anytime they chose.
 
I believe it is because the company is liable if the equipment that they sell/give away causes any problems later eg: somebody gets an electric shock etc.

Normal practice is to sell the equipment to a 3rd party broker who re-sells and assumes the liability.

Typical EU balls up

Agreed, so much red tape and civil servants creating the red tape. All at the expense of British Industry.:mad:
:lesson:

What you are saying has nothing to do with the WEEE directive, but your companies internal policy.
WEEE may not affect the company giving/selling me a mac but it does affect them giving them away to charities/schools etc. See 1st post as I did mention this.

Re storing them at my home - I did email them saying I was willing to do mac training from home & in my own time - could I therefore borrow a machine? I mean I have a company laptop and phone and I take these home - so where's the problem there?? (that's my loophole)
No answer as yet....:rolleyes:

I will pester them on this as I think it's a ludicrous waste. If giving them away takes up too many man hours then I'll organise it!!!
 
I have nothing to add, except to say nice work at getting both wee and poo into a thread title. :thumbsup:
 
The company I work for replaced the majority of their equipment (PCs, old iMac G3s) some years ago and sent all staff in the building that had e-mail a note saying they were stacked up outside the IT department and to help themselves. The only condition was you had to be capable of walking them off the premises yourself.
 
Different companies have different policies.

Many think it's just too much hassle to give/sell redundant equipment to staff.

We've done this in the past and had people ringing up our help desk asking for support when it broke. Not the employee mind, some people who they gave/sold the device to!

So don't leave you help desk stickers on there. :D

In terms of the WEEE directive, it's nothing to do with that really. And there's no need to have the old kit stacking up, just use a WEEE accredited recycling company to shift it.
 
Direct from the Environment agency website

What do the WEEE Regulations mean for business users?

WEEE – BUSINESS USER FACTSHEET
New regulations have been introduced this year to tackle the growing amount of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). It is one of the fastest growing waste streams in Europe, and in the UK alone, we throw away around 2 million tonnes of WEEE every year, much of which ends up in landfill.

The regulations aim to ensure that more WEEE is separately collected for treatment and recovery, and less goes to landfill.
The regulations apply to all companies who import, manufacture, or re-brand electrical equipment in the UK; these companies are known as “producers”. They also affect everyone who uses, sells, treats or disposes of WEEE.
They affect the way WEEE is disposed of by setting treatment standards and recycling targets and, importantly, by making producers, rather than end-users, pay for its treatment and recycling in most cases.

Implications for business users
Shifting the burden of payment for the treatment, recycling and disposal of WEEE from end-users to producers will have a significant impact on purchasing and disposal arrangements.

Responsibility for business WEEE
• If you bought equipment before 13 August 2005, and are replacing it with new equipment fulfilling the same function, then the producer of the new equipment is responsible for the collection, treatment and recycling of the old equipment, regardless of whether they were the original manufacturer.

• If you bought the equipment before 13 August 2005 and do not replace it, then you are responsible for financing and arranging treatment in accordance with the WEEE Regulations and existing waste management legislation, including the Duty of Care and the Hazardous Waste Regulations.

• If you bought electrical equipment after 13 August 2005, then the producer of that equipment is responsible for its collection, treatment and recycling when you dispose of it.

• If you lease or rent equipment, the producer is usually responsible for its disposal.

• The regulations allow producers and business users to agree ‘alternative arrangements’, whereby the business user agrees to take on some or all of the future costs of the end-of-life treatment of the equipment he buys. This is a commercial decision that you will need to make and is likely to form part of the normal negotiating processes for supply contracts in the future.
 
apparently the deal with this is that normally a company providing you with new gear has to take away the old stuff so the buyer isn't stuck with the costs of getting rid of it. the company can however git it away to who they want, an individual or company, even charity, as long as the person taking the old stuff signs a disclaimer taking responsibility for it, so if the stuff ends up in a skip or landfill and the serial numbers are traced, the company can show it was no longer thier responsibility

apparently the form can be a simple one page job, you just need to list the serial number to identify it. so the paperwork side is simple. you don't have to offer the goods to everyone, that's just a company procedure, but if you have a large number of staff and small amount of gear, it's a good idea to have a fair selection criteria so you don't upset and demoralise staff who don't get anything
 

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