The campaign to fight the crippling effect the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive will have on smaller IT firms has stepped up with the launch of an e-petition on the 10 Downing Street web site.
Campaign leader Hendy Armstrong, founder of the Independent Trade Association of Computing Specialists (ITACS), said: “We’ve launched two petitions – one on the ITACS web site for businesses to sign and the Downing Street one for individuals to sign. We want channel players to sign both; we need a united front.
“The Downing Street petition is published publicly so the government has to respond to it.”
Paul Cubbage, managing director of distributor Target Components, said: “We all support the principles of the WEEE directive; the problem is the disproportionate cost impact on independent VARs compared with that on larger firms. The rules on disposal can cause a 10 per cent reduction in cost competitiveness for SMEs. I think we are on the cusp of a dangerous situation so something needs to be done.”
Keith Warburton, chief executive of the Professional Computing Association, said: “Anything that raises the profile of the problem is a good idea so we’ll be encouraging our members to sign the petitions.”
Mike Lawrence, managing director of VAR Bentpenny, said: “The petitions can’t do any harm – if nothing else it will embarrass the government into acknowledging the problem.”
The Downing Street petition is called ‘WEEE Plead’ and can be found at: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk
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