Waste from Electrical & Electronic Equipment (‘WEEE’)

Why does WEEE regulation exist?

Some musical instruments and equipment are categorised as Electrical and Electronic Equipment (‘EEE’). When these items reach their end of life they are defined as WEEE because they're made up of components some of which may contain hazardous materials.

If not managed properly these materials can cause serious environmental damage and be dangerous to human health. In addition, modern electronic components contain rare and expensive resources, which can be recycled and re-used if the waste is effectively managed. That's why there are systems in place in the UK and European Union to help recycle these products.

For musical equipment powered by batteries, the batteries can contain heavy metals (such as mercury, cadmium, lead) and these are a cause for environmental concern. If waste batteries are not disposed of correctly, heavy metals may leak when the battery corrodes, and could contribute to soil and water pollution and endanger human health.

The Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive 2002/95/EC (‘RoHS’) aims to prevent the risks to human health and the environment by restricting the use of certain hazardous substances in EEE that can be substituted by safer alternatives. These restricted substances include heavy metals, flame retardants and plasticizers.

What steps do we take to ensure compliance?

Gear4music takes back WEEE free of charge on a one for one, like for like basis. If you have an older item that you wish to dispose of when you order a new replacement item from us (must be the same type of item), please advise us by sending an email to info@gear4music.com with details of the old item, and we will collect it from you free of charge when we deliver the new item. Alternatively, you can bring the item to our stores in York (UK), Dublin (Ireland), Mülheim an der Ruhr (Germany) or Rosersberg (Sweden).

Where required our prices include contributions to a producer recycling fund to ensure that WEEE is collected and recycled in a responsible manner.

Gear4music is registered with ERP UK Ltd (DHL Lutterworth ISC, Unit 3310, Hunter Boulevard, Magna Park, Lutterworth, LE17 4XN) under the WEEE Producer Registration Number: WEE/DK0065TW. Waste batteries including rechargeable batteries are taken back free of charge in any of our showrooms. You are not obliged to make any purchase when returning old batteries. Each local authority must accept household WEEE and small batteries free of charge at its recycling facilities. All WEEE and waste batteries should be recycled and not placed in household wheelie bins. You can find your nearest recycling centre here - WEEE Recycling Centre

Gear4music actively manages the compliance of its brands by investing in equipment and resources to carry out compliance testing in our dedicated facility. This includes testing for substances that can be harmful to the environment or people, which are banned under the RoHS Regulations. We use technically advanced equipment to ensure that our products are free of substances such as lead, mercury and cadmium, so that we can be certain that our products won’t have a negative impact on the environment or cause harm to our customers.

Information for customers in the Republic of Ireland

Gear4music is registered with Producer Register Limited (Unit 47, Block 5, Northwood Court, Santry, Dublin 9) under the Producer Registration Number: 1079WB.

Gear4music takes back WEEE free of charge on a one for one, like for like basis – see above.

Each local authority must accept household WEEE and small batteries free of charge at its recycling facilities. All WEEE and waste batteries should be recycled and not placed in household wheelie bins.

In Ireland you can use WEEE Ireland's free service to find the location of your nearest WEEE collection point. You can recycle your waste batteries at your local shop, grocery retailer or local recycling centre, free of charge.

Here you will find the mandatory Visible Environmental Management Costs (vEMCs) for WEEE recycling in Ireland, applicable to specific categories of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE). These fees are effective from 21st July 2014 and include VAT at 23%.