WEEE Returns

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Returns

In the European Union (EU), waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is now subject to regulation designed to prevent the disposal of such waste and to encourage prior treatment measures to minimize the amount of waste ultimately disposed. The objective of this regulation is to preserve, protect and improve the quality of the environment, protect human health, and utilize natural resources prudently. In particular, the EU WEEE Directive 2002/96/EC (the WEEE Directive) requires that Producers of electronic equipment be responsible for the collection, reuse, recycling and treatment of WEEE which the Producer places on the EU market after August 13, 2005. Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Sun), as an electronics producer, endeavors to meet these environmental responsibilities for managing WEEE . In so doing, Sun is providing the following to inform its customers about Sun's WEEE collection process.

Take-back Policy

To comply with the WEEE Directive, Sun has expanded their existing product take back program to cover collection, treatment, recovery and disposal of all electrical and electronic equipment sold by Sun into the 25 EU Member States on and after August 13, 2005. When Sun is the producer of such equipment, Sun will take back WEEE, including subassemblies, components and consumables which are part of Sun's equipment, from its customers within the EU.

WEEE Collection Process

New WEEE
If you have purchased Sun-branded electrical or electronic products in the EU on and after August 13, 2005, and are intending to discard these products at the end of their useful life, please do not dispose of them with your other household or municipal waste. Sun has labeled its electronic products with the WEEE label to alert our customers that products bearing this label should not be disposed in a landfill or with municipal or household waste in the EU. Instead, please be aware that Sun is making a return and collection system available to you for discarding these products.

When Sun-branded EEE sold into the European Union has reached the end of it's useful life, Sun collects the WEEE from our customers and routes it to our treatment centers in the UK and Holland, where the waste will be audited and screened for disposition. Where possible, the products will be reused in Sun's remanufacturing operation or sold. Material that cannot be reused in some form is recycled by Sun's asset recovery contractor. A significant portion of Sun's returns are recovered, either by remanufacturing, reselling and recycling with minimal waste being sent to the landfill.

To help in the proper handling of electronic products at the end of their useful life, Sun requests you return those products using the instructions provided here, so that the products can be collected, dismantled for reuse and recycled, and properly disposed. To return these products to Sun, please fully complete an on-line application form, entitled WEEE Returns, and submit the form by clicking on the "Submit" button at the bottom of the form. Note that if all the required fields in the form are not completed, Sun will be unable to process your request. Once the form is submitted, you will be contacted by a representative from Sun within two business days either to request follow-up information or for scheduling the WEEE collection.

Historical WEEE
While the WEEE Directive does not require that Sun collect historical WEEE from products purchased by our customers before August 13, 2005, Sun will evaluate your request to take back such historical waste. A WEEE management fee may apply to such waste. To initiate your request related to historical waste, the on-line application form highlighted above must be completed and submitted to Sun. A Sun representative will then contact you for further information.

OEM Customers
Sun is committed to working with their OEM customers to discuss proper product disposal and management and to evaluate producer responsibility for products sold by our OEM customers within the EU. Please complete and submit the on-line application form highlighted above. Due to the complex relationships with our OEM customers, your Sun sales account representative will contact you for further information if necessary.

Other Information

If you are a customer enrolled in Sun's existing Install Base Business Program or are interested in upgrading your products, please access the following link: http://www.sun.com/ibb/.

For inquiries related to Sun's returns or Asset Recovery Program, please submit your questions here.

For general inquiries related to Sun's WEEE compliance program, please submit your questions here.

This website will be referenced on all Sun EU sales order acknowledgments, packing slips and invoices which will allow for easy access to instructions on future product disposal.

By working together with it's customers for the return of Sun products, Sun can better meet its environmental stewardship goals in the EU by properly managing product returns for reuse, recycling and waste minimization wherever possible. With your help, we can continue our commitment to protecting the global environment.