IT Disposal Legislation

WEEE Directive

You have obligations under the WEEE Regulations if you are a business with electrical/electronic equipment to dispose of, or if you sell electrical or electronic equipment.

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) legislation introduced these new responsibilities for businesses and other non-household users of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE). This includes businesses, schools, hospitals, and government agencies, when they dispose of their electrical waste. These organisations need to ensure that all separately collected WEEE is treated and recycled in the correct manner or through an appropriate WEEE recycler.

Data Protection

The Data Protection Act is mandatory; all organisations that hold or process personal data MUST comply. The 1998 Data Protection Act came into force in early 1999 and covers how information about living identifiable persons is used and disposed.  It is much broader in scope than the earlier 1984 act, but does contain some provision for a transitional period for compliance with the new requirements. The Data Protection Act makes clear demands upon organisations in terms of the security that must be applied to protect personal data. These are the 8 principles of The Data Protection Act:

Data MUST BE:

• Processed fairly and lawfully.
• Obtained and used only for specified and lawful purposes.
• Adequate, relevant and not excessive.
• Accurate, and where necessary, kept up to date.
• Kept for no longer than necessary and disposed of in secure manner.
• Processed in accordance with the individuals rights (as defined).
• Kept secure.
• Transferred only to countries that offer adequate data protection.