PC distributors to face recycling headache

Brussels is poised to shake-up Europe's IT industry by ruling that 90 per cent of computers must be recycled. PC distributors are likely to bear the brunt of the costs.

If it becomes law, the Waste from Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) Directive will force PC distributors to take back any old equipment being replaced with newer machines.

Article 5.2 of the directive reads: "Member States shall ensure that distributors, when supplying a new product, offer to take back free of charge similar waste electrical and electronic equipment from private households provided that the equipment is contaminant free."

The proposed legislation also has serious implications for data protection, as - under laws introduced this year - PC retailers have a duty of care to delete personal data from any PC returned to them by a customer. This process can take as much as four hours for each machine.

Jon Godfrey, co-founder of Technical Asset Management (TAM), said IT directors should start preparations at once. "We're in a disastrous situation, with corporations throwing PCs on the skip without deleting consumer data. Users will have to address their obsolete stocks."

Claire Snow, chairperson of the Industry Council for Electronic Equipment Recycling (ICER), said: "We are expecting an official proposal from the Commission any day now."

Once the final version of the directive is published, it will take another two or three years to become law.

The draft copy of the WEEE directive is published on www.icer.org.uk .