Growing businesses across the UK are missing out on cost savings as they remain unaware of the 2006 Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations, according to research by environmental consultancy NetRegs.

Growing businesses across the UK are missing out on cost savings as they remain unaware of the 2006 Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations, according to research by environmental consultancy NetRegs.

The WEEE Regulations were introduced in January 2007 to reduce the amount of electrical waste going to landfill. For equipment purchased since August 2005, the regulations now put responsibility for waste disposal on the producers.

Small to medium-sized businesses that are still ignoring WEEE legislation could, argues NetRegs, be paying the price through avoidable waste charges and unnecessary effort in disposing of their own electrical waste.

The survey found that only 12 per cent of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) could name the WEEE Regulations unprompted, and just a third (36 per cent) had heard of them once they were named.

Richard Martin, NetRegs programme manager, comments: ‘SMEs generate 60 per cent of all commercial waste in England and Wales, so it’s critical that all users of electrical equipment understand what WEEE means for them – and it is worrying that only one in eight SMEs are aware of WEEE legislation unprompted.’