What is business e-waste?
Also referred to as WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronics Equipment) or electrical waste, your business e-waste is anything with a plug, battery or cable which has come to the end of its life. This includes all your organisation’s unwanted tech and electricals including computers, dishwashers, washing machines, kettles, photocopiers, TVs, batteries and lighting. E-waste is generally classed as ‘hazardous’.
Once your organisation decides not to reuse your IT and electricals, they officially become e-waste. All organisations have a legal duty of care to safely manage their e-waste – from the moment it’s created until it’s finally disposed of. This covers all e-waste that you produce, import, keep, transport, treat, dispose of or have control of. You remain responsible for your e-waste until you have transferred it to an authorised person for taking away and processing. Business waste must be handled separately from domestic waste. This is part of the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) that was established in 1990, and updated in 2008. Taking business e-waste home for disposal with your domestic waste breaches the EPA.
If you produce, distribute or sell electricals you also have a legal obligation to help your customers recycle their unwanted tech and electricals. Read our Industry briefings.
The bottom line is, if you fail to comply you’ll be faced with a fine, and for severe cases where you end up in court, that fine is unlimited.
You must report and safely dispose of your e-waste through approved e-waste management systems; it forms part of your carbon footprint under scope 3 emissions.
The original producer of your electrical equipment has a legal obligation to take back and recycle those items at their ‘end of life’. Contact them directly for more details.
Contact your waste management company, or check our approved list below if you need to sign up to one still. Approved waste management companies are licensed to collect, transport and recycle your e-waste.
Find a waste management company
Find a drop off point for your business e-waste at your local authority sites or find an Approved Authorised Treatment Facility (AATF) who are approved to recycle e-waste. Contact them to find out about what they accept, and how much they charge.
Find an approved recyclerIf you’re a producer, distributor or seller of electricals, our briefings simplify your obligations.
If you sell electricals, you have a legal obligation to recycle your customers’ old electricals. Read a summary of the retailer take-back obligations — and how to comply with them.
Retailer take-back briefing
All producers of electricals have environmental obligations. Read our summary on how to comply as a manufacturer, reseller or importer of electricals.
Waste electricals briefing
All producers of batteries have environmental obligations. Read a summary of the waste batteries regulations for producers, importers, distributors and retailers of batteries in the UK — and how to meet them.
Waste batteries briefing
Whilst hundreds of thousands of tonnes of business e-waste is properly recycled, over 200,000 tonnes is being binned. Read about the opportunities and challenges of business e-waste.
Business e-waste research report
Our free e-waste training and resources will help you explain how you’re managing and reducing your e-waste to your employees – and how they can help
Request our training pack
Our communications toolkits will help you meet any additional obligations, including engaging employees and customers. It takes under three minutes to register — you’ll then have access to all our ready-to-use communications assets.
Register now
Our Recycling Locator widget has almost 30,000 repair, donation and recycling drop off options and can be adapted to sit within your website. Click the link below and scroll to the bottom of the page to view.
View our Locator widget
Keep your tech in use as long as possible and repair when you can. Speak to your IT management companies about refurbished tech which will save you money and protect our planet from further mining.
Choose suppliers with strong environmental practices to reduce your impact. Shortlist three suppliers and check out their environmental credentials before buying.
When you’re done with your tech, donate them through your IT asset disposal company (ITAD) or use our Recycling Locator to find local digital inclusion charities to work with. Your old device could be a lifeline for someone in need.
Find a local donation option
If you’re a producer of electricals, create products that last, that are easy to repair, and that can be recycled. Apply to our Circular Electricals Fund if you’re an organisation needing support to bring sustainable ideas to life.
Circular Electricals FundResponsibly managing your e-waste doesn’t just help reduce environmental impacts, it also brings business benefits
People increasingly expect organisations to take the lead on sustainability. Taking action helps show your customers, employees and stakeholders that you’re serious about your CSR and ESG commitments.
Meeting your environmental obligations is part of de-risking your organisation and makes it easier to keep ahead of future regulations.
More and more of us want to work for responsible companies — especially younger generations who want to work for socially and environmentally driven organisations. The result? more engaged, happier and more fulfilled employees who feel their work is making a positive impact.
Donating old tech helps close the digital divide, enabling people currently without tech to carry out basic tasks like finding a job, or enabling their children to do their homework. Sign up to the Government’s IT Reuse for Good charter and commit to donating your pre-loved tech to change people’s lives.
IT Reuse for good CharterAll organisations have a legal duty of care to safely manage this waste – from the moment it’s created until it’s finally disposed of. This covers all e-waste that you produce, import, keep, transport, treat, dispose of or have control of. You remain responsible for your e-waste until you have transferred it to an authorised person for taking away and processing.
RA legal ‘Duty of Care’ for businesses covers any business producing e-waste. It refers to your legal obligation to responsibly manage your waste from when you produce it until you have transferred it to an authorised person. Your duty does extends along the entire chain of management of your waste until it’s responsibly disposed of.
The Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA 1990) was established in the UK and received Royal Assent on November 1, 1990. It was a significant piece of legislation designed to consolidate various environmental regulations and establish a framework for environmental protection in England, Wales, and Scotland.
