January 1 2007 finally saw the implementation of the EU Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive in the UK. From July this year manufacturers of electrical goods will be required to meet the end-of-life environmental costs of dealing with their own products, and there are stiff penalties for businesses disposing of WEEE in breach of the regulatory regime.

Most manufacturers have already started to take steps to offset the associated costs of dealing with WEEE - indeed analyst Gartner has estimated that the new law could eventually add £60 to the price of computers, as customers pay the end-of-life costs upfront. Manufacters can also shift liability for dealing with WEEE onto customers - the regulations allow for the parties to expressly agree that the customer will foot the bill rather than the manufacturer. This has seen a number of manufacturers, particularly at an enterprise level, revisiting their standard contract terms.

On the customer side of the fence, however, things aren't quite as developed. Computing this week reported that a quarter of IT directors are unaware of the impact WEEE will have on their business, and 75 per cent of IT staff are unaware of their own duties under WEEE. Could be time to start running crash courses in WEEE for your procurement and IT teams.