Hammer hits home on WEEE implementation
Distributor sells Advanced Disposal Kits to the channel as a cost-effective early adoption strategy
Storage distributor Hammer has claimed it is among the first to offer an answer to the channel’s headache over the impending Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive.
Hammer has joined forces with recycling specialists Lifecycle Services, and in August began selling Advanced Disposal Kits that are suitable for all levels of the channel, from manufacturers and distributors to resellers and end-users.
“Three months ago, Hammer looked at how it could prepare its customers for the WEEE directive and we are currently offering a solution to all the questions,” said Steve Cowley, sales manager of Hammer’s storage products division.
“We wanted an early adoption strategy to sell compliance to WEEE, and Lifecycle came up with the Advanced Disposal Kits. For an upfront fee, we provide customers with a server featuring the WEEE wheelie bin logo and a special reference number. At the end of a server’s life, the customer calls the number or goes to a special web site, quotes the reference number and Lifecycle will collect the equipment,” said Cowley.
“We actually won a large Intel server account recently because we were able to help the client comply with WEEE,” said Cowley, adding that Hammer’s resellers had welcomed the scheme. “We rang all our customers earlier in the year to explain WEEE and warn that there could be an upfront cost. They all seemed happy to accept it.”
Jon Godfrey, managing director of Lifecycle Services, said: “There are obvious customer benefits to buying upfront; apart from being compliant, whatever price the customer pays now for end-of-life disposal – in three years’ time, the price will have increased, but because they’ve already paid for it, they don’t have to worry.
“We provide the whole solution for Hammer, including the web site that customers log on to, to get their WEEE kit collected. Hammer is selling the service to its resellers, who can sell it on to their customers.”
However, he warned: “Although the legislation is going to be late coming in, the channel has got to catch up and get involved with end-of-life services now in order to be ready for when WEEE comes in next year.”