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WEEE man, Eden Project (Source: Steve Barnes, Creative Commons)[/caption]In August 2005 the WEEE Regulations came into law in Ireland, transposed from the WEEE Directive. WEEE or Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment is a source of much waste in Ireland and includes any item that has a plug or a battery. The WEEE regulations aim to prevent the mass generation of electronic waste and also sets targets for its collection and treatment in an environmentally sound manner. It is essential that electronic waste be disposed of correctly as throwing it into a landfill, or other forms of irresponsible disposal can be harmful for both our health and the environment.So far WEEE regulations have been quite successful and c. 9kg per person per household of electronic waste was collected in 2009 in Ireland, above the EU regulation of 4kg. However, it is important to remember that the amount of collection should be understood in relation to the amount of waste generated and therefore despite our good record of electronic waste collection, it is imperative that we continue to decrease our generation of this waste.As a consumer there are steps that you can take to ensure that you are a responsible consumer and that you are complying with the WEEE regulations:

• Firstly, try to minimise the amount of electronic waste that you produce, re-use your products and resist the urge to replace your electronic products until they are at the end of their usable life.

• Once an electrical item has reached the end of its use, ensure that you dispose of it responsibly and do not put it into a waste landfill. There are a couple of ways to dispose of your item correctly: at your local Civic Amenity site and you may also return your items to retailers on a buy-one, give-one basis.

For more information on how best to dispose of your electronic waste visit www.recyclefree.ie, and to learn more about the life cycle of your electronic products from extraction to disposal watch this video: