WEEE Directive: How Does It Affect eCommerce Sellers?
Reading Time: 4 Min.
The waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) Directive is a collection of regulations that are set out to reduce the amount of WEEE improperly disposed of and sent to landfill sites.
The new set of regulations in the WEEE Directive affects many businesses. As an ecommerce seller dealing with electronic waste, you must ensure you know the WEEE Directive and how these obligations impact you.
Not being compliant with the WEEE Directive can result in a hefty fine. So, we’re giving you a helping hand by summarizing the WEEE Directive, who it impacts, and how it affects ecommerce sellers.
What is WEEE Directive?
The Directive’s purpose is to divert electrical waste from landfills by monitoring the collection and recycling of electrical waste that sellers are responsible for.
Electric waste only accounts for around 2% of overall trash in landfill sites. Two percent doesn’t seem like much, but this electric waste makes up around 70% of the toxic heavy metals in landfills.
Not disposing of electrical waste properly is a serious problem and can have negative long-term consequences, creating public health problems and polluting ecosystems. Air can be harmfully contaminated by e-waste, even more so in countries where recycling processes are poorly regulated. Air pollution has a detrimental impact on the environment and the ecosystems of animals and humans.
WEEE Directive works to combat this by setting out regulations to ensure the correct disposal of e-waste by manufacturers and sellers.
