Businesses in the UK are making WEEE harder for themselves, says Motorola

With goods being recycled, disassembled or resold upon return, many manufacturers want to ensure that they make the sorting and returns process as easy as possible, explains David Barnes, product marketing manager at Motorola’s Enterprise Mobility business. Says Barnes: “The WEEE initiative has the potential to place a heavy burden on manufacturers, many of which already operate in competitive, lean industries. With the volume of electrical goods sold every year continuing to grow, there will be corresponding growth in the pressure on manufacturers. “Quickly and easily being able to identify a product, its constituents and whether or not it can be recycled, will become increasingly important over the next few years if companies are to manage the costs of WEEE without a significant impact on their profits,” he adds. Barnes says that bar codes on packaging are not enough, making the point that consumers frequently cut off tags or throw away the wrapping so that the bar codes are lost. “It is becoming increasingly clear that what manufacturers require to solve this problem is a form of identification which can mark and carry data about the product or component throughout all of its lifespan,” he says. “Faster identification of products will reduce storage time and quickly allow businesses to see what needs to be recycled, what needs to be safely destroyed and what can be passed on to component manufacturers.” The Motorola solutions is direct part marking (DPM) – etching, laser marking or spraying a data matrix directly onto the product. “DPM provides a permanent marking solution that ensures readability throughout the life of products – even when subjected to harsh environments during the manufacturing process,” says Barnes. “So, no matter how long a product has been used, when it returns, the DPM mark will be intact. And that means an easier task when it comes to following WEEE.”