Britain is worst electronics recycler in Europe

Britain recycles far fewer electronic goods than any other country in Europe according to Dell.

Research carried out by the computer manufacturer found that British consumers have little awareness of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive; even though this legislation has been in force in this country since July 2007 and also show little interest in recycling initiatives.

Jean Cox Kearns, Dell’s EMEA Takeback Manager said: “Everyone has ownership. It is not just government, producers and retailers. Consumers must also take some responsibility.”

However, she said abiding by the WEEE directive was not easy for British consumers. She said because Great Britain was one of the last European member states to implement the directive, we are “still playing catchup” and there has been little education for consumers.

Dell said the upshot was consumer confusion around the recycling options available for old electronics has led to a country of technology wasters. One out of two British consumers fails to correctly recycle their old technology compared to four out of five in Germany who regularly recycle WEEE equipment.

“In Northern Ireland retailers have a legal duty to tell customers who are buying new electrical or electronic devices what the recycling options open to them are. For example if they take back in-store or their nearest civic amenity. This is not the case in the rest of the UK,” she said.

The research conducted for Dell looked at the recycling habits of 5,000 consumers across the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

The company, which runs its own free take back and recycling programme for any brand of used PC or printer said it found UK consumer recycling behaviour varied quite considerably by region.

Respondents in Scotland and London were found to care more about the implications of improper technology disposal, with four percent of consumers in each location claiming to recycle electronics more than any other waste.

The Welsh on the other hand are more complacent - or less informed about how to recycle technology - with consumers there recycling electronics the least often of all UK regions (17 per cent of Welsh respondents have never recycled technology).

A lack of awareness about technology recycling is found to be most apparent in the North East, with nearly three-quarters of residents there claiming they do everything they can to recycle, but less than one percent recycle electronics.
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