The WEEE Directive

Image: sculpture made from old electrical equipment

Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment Directive

The WEEE Directive is a law introduced across Europe to help us dispose of our unwanted electrical goods in a responsible way.

The type of items covered by the new law are those which are powered either by batteries or mains electricity:

washing machines
cookers
computers
mobile phones
microwave ovens
televisions
toasters

We can remove the hazardous parts from these items and the rest of the components can be recycled rather than sent to landfill.

What are we doing in Belfast?

To help meet the WEEE Directive in Belfast each of our recycling centres accepts electrical goods for recycling.

Many of the goods are in working order and suitable to be reused. At our recycling centres material is graded and reuseable items are passed on for resale, through either local charities or retailers.

Items which are not suitable for resale are broken up into their components. These parts can then be sent for re-processing.

WEEE World Altogether sculptures

Image: Tree made from old electrical equipment

We asked local artists to create sculptures from waste left at our recycling centres to raise awareness about the volume of local waste.

The sculptures can now be seen at our recycling centres across the city. The sculptures are:

Fish our of Water, at Alexander Park recycling centre, North Belfast: this is a recycled steel cage holding empty waste water bottles.

Waste Age, at Ormeau recycling centre, South Belfast: electrical equipment displayed as a fossilised dinosaur.

Strange Fruit, at Blackstaff recycling centre, West Belfast: this is a tree made of tyres bearing our carbon footprint,represented by old shoes.

Our WEEE world, at Palmerston recycling centre, East Belfast: the World Altogether sculpture made from materials collected at one recycling centre over three days.