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Oxford University Libraries say chuck out your crap

Quick, the WEEE directive is coming!

A memo reaches Vulture Towers from Oxford University Library Services (OULS) warning that the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment(WEEE) regulations are soon to come into force.

D-Day for the WEEE regulations is 1 July and will govern how we can dispose of all types of electrical hardware.

But this is more than a heads-up on new legislation and more a call to action. The memo starts: "Have you any old bits of electrical equipment lying about your department?"

"If so, now is the time to dispose of any old or surplus or electronic and electrical equipment because after 1 July 2007 it becomes unlawful to dispose of non-hazardous equipment in normal waste streams."

We can see what the university is doing here, but it is not really in the spirit of the time - this week is Recycling Now Week. We appreciate that even the ivory towers of Oxford have budget restrictions, but wasn't there a better way to deal with this? Especially because the WEEE rules put a lot of responsibility for recycling on the producers of equipment.

For anyone who's missed the meaning of this missive, the final line makes it clear: "The message is - get rid of any unwanted electrical and electronic equipment before the end of June 2007."

For any Reg readers in the Oxford area, we recommend you steer clear of any university library bins and the river Isis in the near future.

You can see the whole memo here (Word doc).

A spokesman for University Services said we'd misunderstood the letter and there was a university-wide policy for responsible rubbishing of electronic equipment.

He pointed us to this page on getting rid of electronic equipment and this page which details the university's specific computer disposal policy.

OULS is responsible for all the university's libraries, including the Bodleian.

Let us know how you are dealing with the changing regulations by clicking on the byline at the top of the story, or let the world know by posting a Reader Comment below. ®

Bootnote

Thank you to the Reg reader who passed us the email.

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