WEEE Waste Processing

What is WEEE Waste?

WEEE contains harmful materials such as asbestos, mercury, refrigerants, heating/cooling fluids (including ozone-depleting substances and ammonia), PCBs, refractory ceramic fibres, and minor quantities of radioactive substances present in smoke detectors. These materials can have a significant impact on the environment and human health.

Another important consideration is the resource value of precious and semi-precious metals present in components in WEEE, such as gold, silver, palladium, and platinum. The recovery of these metals through industry processing is commercially viable, and effective recycling of WEEE ensures their recovery for reuse. This reduces the reliance on primary sources and the carbon emitted and waste produced to extract and convert ores into metals, allowing their use in new products.

Proper recycling of WEEE is crucial, and RED Industries can help. Our technical team can provide expert advice on the safe management and disposal of WEEE, and we have the facilities and services to handle hazardous and non-hazardous wastes.

WEEE is recognised to contain components and materials which are considered highly polluting in the environment.  These wastes include:

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  Large household appliances – e.g. fridges, cookers, microwaves, washing machines and dishwashers
  
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  Small household appliances – e.g. vacuum cleaners, irons, toasters, and clocks
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  IT and telecommunications equipment – e.g. personal computers, copying equipment, telephones, and pocket calculators
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  Consumer equipment – e.g. radios, televisions, hi-fi equipment, camcorders, and musical instruments
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  Lighting equipment – e.g. straight and compact fluorescent tubes and high intensity discharge lamps.
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  Electrical and electronic tools – e.g. drills, saws and sewing machines, electric lawnmowers.
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  Toys, leisure, and sports equipment – e.g. electric trains, games consoles and running machines.
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  Medical devices – e.g. (non-infected) dialysis machines, analysers, medical freezers, and cardiology equipment.
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  Monitoring and control equipment - e.g. smoke detectors, thermostats, and heating regulators.
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  Automatic dispensers – e.g. hot drinks dispensers and other vending machines.
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  Vaping technology and associated equipment

At RED Industries, we can help you manage all aspects of your WEEE disposal, including dedicated consignments or mixed load collections. We will take your waste to our facilities, sort, separate out, and direct each component to specialist treatment and recovery processes. Our aim is to recover the recyclable elements and appropriately dispose of the non-recoverable parts.

WEEE arising from commercial and industrial applications is also subject to stringent controls and can be classified as hazardous waste or containing POPs unless otherwise assessed. Components of WEEE that may contain hazardous substances or POPs include printed circuit boards, plastic casings, cables, insulation foam, cooling agents, flame retardants, cathode ray tubes, capacitors, activated glass, screen phosphors, and Ni-Cad batteries.

Effective recycling of WEEE can reduce the environmental damage caused by inappropriate disposal of metals like arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury. Precious and semi-precious metals like gold, silver, palladium, and platinum, present in WEEE in commercially recoverable quantities, can be recovered for reuse through industry processing, reducing reliance on primary sources and carbon emissions.