Only 2% of people aware of new directive on disposal of electrical goods

New rules that come into force today to encourage the recycling of electrical goods could fail because hardly anyone is aware of them.

A poll has found that that only 2% of people know about the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive, which is meant to make it easy to recycle old mobile phones, TVs, computers and washing machines.

And a logo displayed on new electrical products to show they should be recycled is widely misunderstood. The logo, showing a crossed-out wheelie bin, is meant to suggest that goods should not be thrown away.

But a survey of over 2000 people throughout the UK by the electrical retailer, Comet, reveals that 71% had no idea what the logo meant.

Almost one in five thought it meant "no wheelie bin collection in this area", and 16% thought it meant "please do not leave wheelie bins out in the street".

Just under half of those surveyed had never recycled an electrical product, and one in five seemed unaware that such products could be recycled.

The only good news was that there was a slightly higher level of recycling awareness in Scotland.

"We were surprised to hear that there is such a low level of public awareness of the WEEE symbol across the UK, despite it appearing on products since 2005," said Comet's managing director, Hugh Harvey.

"We believe this legislation is a really positive initiative which will make it much easier for consumers to recycle their electrical waste, and we hope consumers agree. We are committed to making it as easy as possible for consumers across the UK to recycle."

To coincide with the new WEEE regulations, Comet is extending its collection and recycling service for large electrical items to all households across the UK for a standard charge of £20.

Dixons, Currys and PC World, which are all owned by DSG International, have opted to allow customers to return unwanted or obsolete electrical and electronic goods to the store where they were bought. Other producers and retailers have bought into a £10 million scheme to provide over 900 "designated collection facilities" in the UK, including over 170 across Scotland.

But the company responsible for establishing the network of collection facilities, Valpak, has warned that not all of them will be ready today.

"Not all of the collection facilities will be in place by July 1," said Duncan Simpson, the company's general manager in Scotland.

Friends of the Earth Scotland pointed out that toxic metals from dumped electrical equipment posed a serious environmental threat. "It is a shame that this much-needed law will enter into force without as much as a whimper," said the environmental group's chief executive, Duncan McLaren.

"When the law was originally conceived it was meant to make it simple for consumers to return old electrical equipment to stores for recycling. However, it is clear that the public knows little about these new rules and even less about where they can take their items for recycling."

Electronic and electrical equipment constitute the fastest-growing waste stream in the UK, with over 1.2m tonnes disposed of annually, equivalent to 150,000 double-decker buses. The WEEE regulations affect up to 100,000 business in the UK.

One Scottish business, Shore Recycling in Perth, is hoping for a major boost in its business thanks to WEEE. Last year it recycled 750,000 fridges and 250,000 televisions, and is now preparing to deal with more types of electrical waste.

On Friday, Chris Davies MEP, the Liberal Democrat environment spokesman in the European Parliament, warned that WEEE arrangements in the UK were "a complete shambles". And an "ethical" computer disposal firm, DataServ, talked of a "countdown to chaos".

But local authorities in Scotland, along with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa), said they were prepared for the new regulations. "Sepa encourages householders to make the best use of the new regulations in the interests of the environment," said a Sepa spokeswoman.