sWEEE and Hazardous Waste

Some sWEEE is classified as hazardous due to the presence of harmful substances like lead, mercury, and Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), commonly found in components such as circuit boards, fire-retardant plastics and batteries. However, not all of it is. The hazardous classification depends on the quantity of these substances and some sWEEE may not contain these elements.

Since 2005, there has been a legal requirement under the Hazardous Waste (Wales) 2005 regulations to keep hazardous waste, and therefore hazardous sWEEE, separate from other waste.

The new requirement under the workplace recycling regulations will ensure that all sWEEE from workplaces (both hazardous and non-hazardous) must be kept separate from other waste for onward processing and not be put in your general waste bin by law.

Despite the existence of the hazardous waste regulations, we know that hazardous (and non-hazardous) small waste electricals are still disposed of in general waste streams in Wales each year leading to a loss of valuable resources and posing a fire risk. These two regulatory frameworks will now work together to ensure all small waste electricals are diverted from residual waste streams to support the safe re-use or recycling of small waste electricals.

How will I know if my small electrical waste is hazardous or not?

Some workplaces will know whether their small electrical waste is hazardous, for example, due to the specialist nature of their business (e.g. engineering firm, small electricals manufacturer) or because of data sheets or manufacturer’s guidance supplied with the small electricals. If you are not sure, the Code of Practice provides links to guidance that can help you work this out. However, if your sWEEE hasn’t been checked to see if it is hazardous, or you have assessed your waste and are still unsure whether it is hazardous or not, the Code explains that you should apply the precautionary principle and class it as hazardous waste and manage it accordingly. There are extra rules for how hazardous waste must be moved and handled. If in doubt, speak to your waste collector to agree how your items need to be collected and managed.