sector - CCS (Leeds)

NEWS
Trade bodies rally to
find WEEE compromise
DTI advises independent trade bodies of a possible solution to the unfair WEEE burden...
INDEPENDENT RETAIL trade
bodies ITACS and NASCR have
continued their lobbying of the
Government over the unfair
burden of the WEEE
regulations on smaller outfits.
On July 6th this took them
to the Department of Trade and
Industry, where they met the
director and assistant director
responsible for WEEE.
The key development to
emerge from the meeting was
the possibility of local
authorities allowing smaller
retailers to use registered DCF
(distributor collection facility)
civic amenity sites. Apparently
nothing in the WEEE directive
prevents this, but pre-existing
regulation does.
It appears that local
authorities have the power to
disregard this legislation if they
choose, an option already being
exercised by Wessex County
Council, with others expected
to follow. However, even
Wessex’s concession limits the
amount of waste allowable to
what seems to be an
unrealistically small amount.
“The major outcome of the
meeting has been the
establishment of a
communication channel where
none previously existed,”
News Bytes
Netgear joins with
Bell Micro
Netgear and Bell Micro
have teamed up to give
retailers a helping hand
with selling network
solutions in the UK. The
deal will see the firms
supporting the sale of
Netgear’s ProSafe
business products.
www.netgear.com
ARMSTRONG (inset): “Our major concern is the expensive WEEE transportation cost burden”
Hendy Armstrong, ITACS
Secretary told PC Retail.
“Our major concern has
always been the expensive
WEEE transportation cost
burden – in our view a very
real business killer. We do hope
the enlightened policy of West
Sussex County Council
cascades in time across the
country,” he continued.
Museum of UK
Computing
The UK is to get a museum
dedicated to its place in
the early development on
computing technologies.
The National Museum of
Computing will be at
Bletchley Park – where the
Allies broke the codes used
by Germany in WWII.
bletchleypark.org.uk
“However, we feel that a
limit of eight computer
monitors per year applied by
that Authority is a serious
restriction to our businesses.”
There was also a clarification
of the situation regarding ‘joint
and several liability’ in
producer compliance schemes
(PCS). The DTI advised that
such a thing does not exist and
Chimei hits UK
UK distributor VIP is
introducing the CHIMEI
brand by MIRAI for its
range of LCD monitors.
CHIMEI is already
renowned in Asia as a
leading LCD TV and
monitor brand and is the
world’s third largest supplier
of LCD TV panels.
www.chimei.com.tw
that members are only liable for
their own obligations whether
or not other members fail.
What this news implies for any
PCS’ that have sold insurance
to cover such an eventuality
remains to be seen.
It has been suggested that,
pending a full resolution of the
problem, smaller retailers
should explore the possibility of
Second-shop
Second Life, the popular
virtual reality portal, has
seen the first retailer selling
products through the
program. Depending upon
the success of the trial, it
could signal a move
towards the world of the
virtual High Street with
more retailers moving in.
www.secondlife.com
access to private DCFs and
Waste Transfer Stations. Jenny
Stimpson, a NASCR committee
member, agrees but thinks
retailers should proceed with
caution.
“Many Councils run
detection programmes and the
consequences can be severe if
caught,” she told PC Retail.
“To help us in monitoring
development the Associations
would be grateful if individual
businesses enquire if the local
authority is indeed considering
changing its policy and, if so,
by when and let us know."
It seems that the ball is still
very much in the DTI’s court,
with decisive action necessary
before independents start
crumbling under the financial
burden of complying with
WEEE in its current form.
ITACS and NASCR intend to
remain diligent.
“In the course of the coming
weeks we shall be checking the
rate of advance of Local
Authority policy change and
forming a view on its effective
distribution,” said Armstrong.
“Our associations take the
view that the WEEE wheel is
indeed round but a few spokes
are still missing and these affect
our independent sector most.”
Hama-time
Hama PVAC has officially
re-branded to Hama (UK)
as it continues to focus on
UK growth. MD Nick Grey
said: “Hama has evolved
over the past few years
and our presence in the UK
has grown. We felt it was
the right time to focus on
our image and our future.”
www.hama.co.uk
8 PCRetail August www.pcretailmag.com