Dixons, UK's biggest computer goods and consumer electronics retailer, reckons that new EU recycling laws will cost it £17m a year. The directive will add an estimated £500 million a year in costs to industry in the UK alone, much of which will inevitably pass on to consumers in the form of higher charges, Sunday Business reports.

The EU Waste and Electrical & Electronic Equipment directive has been trundling through European Commission bureacracy for years.
The WEEE directive is being finalised this week and should come into force towards the end of the year.

Computer and electronics manufacturers, resellers and retailers have lobbied fiercely against provisions which will see them forced to take back goods they have sold for recycling. ®