---
title: Does your attic/spare room look like this?
description: Does your attic/spare room look like this?
---

[Commentary & Analysis - Compliance & Risks](https://go.adherent.com/commentary-analysis-old)

# [Does your attic/spare room look like this?](https://go.adherent.com/commentary-analysis-old/does-your-atticspare-room-look-like-this)

 Written by [Mary Liddane](https://go.adherent.com/commentary-analysis-old/author/mary-liddane) | Aug 18, 2015, 10:32:34 AM

<https://go.adherent.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Blog_does_your_attic_look_like_this2.png> Picture courtesy of Recilec treatment facility, Seville, as part of the CWIT project

I was a good citizen and I removed the offending [PCB from the seashore](http://blog.complianceandrisks.com/i-do-like-to-be-beside-the-weee-side/). But now what? Spending my days instructing the largest product manufacturers in the world to observe the crossed out wheelie bin symbol, I know I can’t dispose of it in the household waste or recycle bin. So what happens next?

This question of convenient disposal is an important one for the future of **WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) policy and legislation**. In Europe, while many consumers are now aware that they can bring their old appliance with them when they are buying a new one and the retailer will accept the old as part of their WEEE obligations, others are not so well informed.

There is actually a legal requirement in Article 14 of the **WEEE Directive** (Information for users) which says:

*(…) 2. Member States shall ensure that users of EEE in private households are given the necessary information about:*

*a)* *the requirement not to dispose of WEEE as unsorted municipal waste and to collect such WEEE separately;*

*b)* *the return and collection systems available to them, encouraging the coordination of information on the available collection points irrespective of the producers or other operators which have set them up;*

*c)* *their role in contributing to re-use, recycling and other forms of recovery of WEEE;*

*d)* *the potential effects on the environment and human health as a result of the presence of hazardous substances in EEE;*

*(e) the meaning of the symbol shown in Annex IX (i.e. the crossed out wheelie bin indicating separate collection for EEE) (…)*

 *3. Member States shall adopt appropriate measures so that consumers participate in the collection of WEEE and to encourage them to facilitate the process of re-use, treatment and recovery.*

 *5. Member States may require that some or all of the information referred to in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 shall be provided by producers and/or distributors, e.g. in the instructions for use, at the point of sale and through public awareness campaigns. (…)*

The responsibility for public awareness is thus primarily assigned to individual Member States. The question is, though, how this is implemented effectively in practice and what improvements are possible.

But what about all those appliances lurking in the attic or clinging to the spare room (just in case you might need them again)? The video player complete with stuck tape inside, the portable TV that might still work if you just managed to get the rabbit ears aerial to tune in, and the monstrosity of a blender with 100 extra parts that were part of a long forgotten New Year’s resolution? You are not likely to be buying a replacement for many of these items, so what do you do with them now?

<https://go.adherent.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Blog_does_your_attic_look_like_this3.png>A suggestion may be to extend the environmental compliance obligations of waste collectors to include WEEE. So beside your waste, recycling and/or glass bin, you would have a WEEE bin. Or you could simply dispose of WEEE in the recycle bin and have it sorted at the treatment facility. This seems like a logical plan given that consumers effectively decide when electrical and electronic equipment becomes WEEE and this would ensure that appliances find their way to legitimate treatment streams much sooner.

However, the problem is that scavenging for valuable materials in waste electronics is big business. Washing machines contain a large amount of metal, as do compressors of fridges and freezers. But smaller electronics, more appropriately sized for the bin such as mobile phones, laptops etc. also contain valuable elements which would likely attract industrious individuals to thoroughly check your bin on the night before collection. It is well documented that waste lighting equipment is not similarly scavenged, and a high proportion of these are returned through official channels. This is due to the fact that waste lighting is essentially worthless so there is no market or demand for these items.

The recast WEEE Directive will increase the rates of collection and return for producers, retailers, and ultimately for Member States. From 2019 onwards, the minimum collection rate to be achieved annually shall be 65% of the average weight of EEE placed on the market in the three preceding years in the Member State concerned, or alternatively 85% of WEEE generated on the territory of that Member State as foreseen in Article 7(1).

One of the recommendations from the **[CWIT project](http://www.cwitproject.eu/)** will focus on the education of consumers and how this can contribute to improving the rates of collection of WEEE through compliant channels.

(By the way, I took the PCB from the seashore home and added it to the pile of old electronics that are awaiting a critical mass before being disposed of at the nearest collection point).

[View full post](https://go.adherent.com/commentary-analysis-old/does-your-atticspare-room-look-like-this)

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