WEEE ruling petition goes online
Campaigners launch e-petition to combat unfair WEEE legislation
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