Whilst Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) and Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) are covered by two separate pieces of UK legislation, for disposal and recycling credit purposes they are inextricably linked.

The primary purpose of the legislation relating to WEEE is to increase recycling rates for domestic appliances across the EU by the introduction of producer responsibility - in a similar manner to the packaging of waste.

The waste and recycling sectors have developed plant and systems to deal with a range of WEEE. These must also comply with other regulations as appropriate, for example ODS (certain refrigerants) and hazardous waste (lead coated glass of cathode ray tubes).

Whilst recovery rates are linked to the domestic waste stream, treatment plants have been increasing throughputs of waste arising from the business sector, especially computer equipment.

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