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WEEE rules when your business gets rid of IT

How the WEEE Regulations apply to old business computers, phones and screens: the categories, who pays for collection and treatment, household versus business WEEE, and the other waste rules that still apply.

Checked 7 October 2026 · Sources

A pile of old desktop computers, CRT monitors and a television
Old computers and monitors waiting for recycling · Photo: AvWijk, Public domain

The law

The UK rules are the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013, as amended — most recently by the WEEE (Amendment, etc.) Regulations 2025, in force from 12 August 2025. That amendment brought online marketplaces into scope for equipment they place on the market from non-UK sellers, and added a category for vapes.

Which category is old IT?

Producers report equipment in 15 categories. The ones that matter for IT are:

  • Category 3, IT and telecommunications equipment: PCs, laptops, tablets, printers, phones, USB sticks, memory and SIM cards. Screens built into laptops and phones stay in this category.
  • Category 11, display equipment: separate monitors and TV screens.
  • Category 15: vapes and electronic cigarettes (new in 2025).

Every category covers both household and business products. There is no “category 6 small IT” in UK law — that is the EU’s numbering.

Who pays for collecting and treating business WEEE?

  • For business equipment placed on the UK market on or after 13 August 2005, the producer must pay for collecting and treating it when it becomes waste.
  • For older (“historic”) business WEEE, the producer pays when it supplies new equipment that replaces it like for like.
  • A producer and a business customer can agree other arrangements between themselves.

In practice, when you replace IT you can ask the supplier or producer — or the producer’s compliance scheme — to take the old equipment back.

Business or household WEEE?

WEEE from a business that is similar to household WEEE counts as household (B2C) WEEE, and “dual-use” items count as household. The classification has to be made, and justified, when the WEEE is collected. Council recycling sites may accept business WEEE if their permit allows, and may charge for it.

The rest of waste law still applies

On top of the WEEE rules, a business getting rid of old IT must follow normal waste law:

  • the duty of care — only pass waste to an authorised person, with a waste transfer note: see duty of care and waste transfer notes
  • a registered waste carrier, and a site with a permit or registered exemption: see T11, ATF and AATF
  • the hazardous waste rules for things like CRT screens and some batteries.

If the devices hold personal data, data protection law applies too — see data protection when you dispose of IT.

Reuse comes first

Working equipment handed over for reuse doesn’t have to become waste at all if the conditions in government guidance are met — see what is ITAD. Find companies that refurbish or buy back used IT, or that offer WEEE recycling.

Sources

  1. GOV.UK: Regulations — waste electrical and electronic equipment, updated 12 Aug 2025
  2. The WEEE Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/3113)
  3. GOV.UK: EEE covered by the WEEE Regulations, updated 12 Aug 2025
  4. WEEE Regulations 2013, regulation 12 (business WEEE)
  5. GOV.UK: WEEE — collecting used and waste EEE, updated 12 Aug 2025

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Rules differ between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland — check with the regulator or an adviser for your situation.