Hotels and restaurants ignorant of waste legislation

Chris Druce

Wednesday 13 February 2008 10:33

The hotel and restaurant sectors are among the most ignorant when it comes to legislation surrounding the disposal of electronic waste.

Just 8% of small- and medium-sized hotel and restaurant businesses in the UK could name the 2006 Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations unprompted.

Only 28% had heard of them once they were named – significantly below the UK industry average of 36%.

Less than half (47%) of SMEs in the hotel and restaurant businesses have introduced practical measures to reduce their environmental impact.

However the survey of 4,489 UK businesses, conducted by NetRegs, found that hospitality was not the most ignorant sector with just 2% of those working in agriculture aware of the legislation.

NetRegs said that small businesses still ignoring WEEE legislation could be paying the price in avoidable waste charges and the unnecessary effort required in disposing of electrical waste.

Richard Martin, NetRegs programme manager, said: “SME’s generate 60% of all commercial waste in England and Wales so it’s critical that all users of electrical equipment understand what WEEE means for them and it is worrying that so few SME’s in the hotel and restaurant sectors are aware of WEEE legislation.”

The research was conducted on behalf of the Environment Agency in England and Wales (EA and EAW), the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and the Environment and Heritage Service (EHS), Northern Ireland.