What to do with your old Printer?
How to dispose of old printers responsibly.
When we first started Stinkyink.Com back in 2002 I bought an HP Officejet V40 all in one Fax/Copier/Printer/Scanner from our local computer superstore. After a few years of sterling service it has been superseded by a super-duper colour laser HP Laserjet 2840 fax/printer/copier/scanner, leaving us with the question what to do with the old one?.
My immediate reaction was that under the latest Waste Electrical Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive somebody (probably me) was now responsible for recycling it. So my task was to find out Who, Where and How?.
It is not easy!. First stop was Google and type in WEEE Directive which takes me to the DTi website . The UK Regulations implementing the WEEE Directive were laid before Parliament on 12 December 2006 and enter into force on 2 January 2007 and have to be complied with by all relevant parties by the 1st of July 2007.
The first paragraph says ‘The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive) aims to minimise the impact of electrical and electronic goods on the environment, by increasing re-use and recycling and reducing the amount of WEEE going to landfill. It seeks to achieve this by making producers responsible for financing the collection, treatment, and recovery of waste electrical equipment, and by obliging distributors to allow consumers to return their waste equipment free of charge.’ This is a pretty black and white statement of responsibility on producers and distributors to take back and recycle all Electronic Equipment at no expense to the consumer.
A bit more reading of some very long and boring legalise basically says that the UK adopted the WEEE Directive back in January 2007 and that it will be legally binding on all Distributors and Manufacturers by 1st of July 2007. This being the last week in June 2007 I thought – no problem pop onto the PCWorld website and type in WEEE and see what comes up. Nothing!. OK lets check the terms and conditions, hmm last updated May 2005 and no mention of WEEE.
The directive actually says that if you are a retail customer, then if you buy a replacement product from the store they have to take back your old item and dispose of it in accordance with the requirements of the WEEE directive (read more here ). That seems fair enough, for both the retailers and the consumers and I suspect that all of the major retailers will be compliant with the requirements of the directive when they have to be. The consumer gets rid of their old electronic equipment and the retailer gets a new sale. The hidden cost of course is going to be bourne by you and some experts predict up to 4% cost increases to cover the recycling requirements.
What about business’s I hear you ask?, not quite so easy for us as a business. I either have to pay somebody to take it away and recycle it appropriately or take it to my local council recycling site for proper disposal. It is my responsibility as a businessman is to make sure that the printer is taken to a properly disposed of according to the requirements of the Directive.
The other thing of real interest to us here at Stinkyink Towers is the recycling of printer inkjet and laser toner cartridges. These have been specifically excluded from the WEEE directive after some very heavy lobbying by the printer manufacturers.
June 29th, 2007 at 7:21 am
When I first started to read this article I thought “Oh good, someone has come up with an idea to pay us for our old printers” (like some places buy used inks or they can be donated to charities) but no. It seems good that if you have a new item then the old one will be taken away but what happens if you don’t replace it with the same thing? Maybe a basic printer is replaced by a super duper all singing all dancing one? Will they say that is a different item? Maybe not so much with printers as they aren’t too big but what if you change a large fridge freezer for the American larder type. Who wants to get rid of something that big? Or a washing machine being replaced by a washer/dryer? I can see loopholes for some companies already! It’s probably just a wait and see scenario as usual.
June 29th, 2007 at 10:27 am
if your printer still works, then freecycle it! that way it goes to someone local who can reuse it. and someone who can’t afford a printer gets one for free.
some electronic goods give to charities for recycling end up being shipped vast distances over seas, where they either sit on the dockside decaying, or get pulled apart by low paid workers who are not properly protected from the toxic components. not very green really.
June 30th, 2007 at 8:42 am
We’ve taken computers, printers and monitors to the skip because no one wanted them. They worked but were outdated. We asked around but no one was interested in this huge machinery when they could buy new slim line versions. We live in a throw away world and people would rather get into debt for new things than be seen to make do with second hand. If someone offers me something I’m grateful but I think I must come from a rare breed - or as my son would put it - I live in the dark ages and play with the dinosaurs!! As far as I’m aware, charities are unable to accept electrical equipment because of safety issues.
July 2nd, 2007 at 8:24 am
It is a real problem, I think that Paulines idea about Freecycle is a good one, although they don’t operate nationwide. Anyway it is now July and the WEEE directive is in force, so if you are buying new items then take the old one back for the retailer to recycle!
Regards
John