HP today published new data showing the real costs of implementing the WEEE directive in a sample of European countries, ten months after the legislation was implemented. The research clearly indicates that following the WEEE implementation, recycling costs in relation to the end product price for consumers are lower than initially feared.

Significantly, the review found that in countries where there is a more competitive environment for electronics recycling providers, the take back and recycling costs of retired electronic equipment are lower. Costs are higher in countries where there is no competition and only one recycling provider for industry to work with. For example, Austria, Germany and Spain possess relatively new, but highly dynamic take back and recycling systems with strong market competition, and are enjoying costs of just a few Euro cents per product. Recently calculations point to a cost of around 7 Euro cents in Germany, 20 Euro cents in Spain and 39 Euro cents in Austria for every HP Notebook PC sold. On the other hand, in Belgium, Switzerland and Ireland, where there are no competitive markets, the costs are higher.

“Customers throughout Europe have shared the perception that the process of recycling electronic equipment always equates to high costs. While HP has always stated that competition will reduce such costs, we are pleasantly surprised by how low costs actually are in the competitive environment”, said Klaus Hieronymi, Director, Environmental Business Management Organisation, HP EMEA.

The different levels of competition have led to a wide variation in costs of recycling across Europe. To recycle a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), for example, costs consumers less than 1 Euro cent in Spain, 2 Euros cents in Austria, 41 Euros cents in Belgium and 1.33 Euros in Switzerland.

Hieronymi added, “HP is working with organisations across Europe to encourage a more competitive environment for electronics recycling providers. We hope that this will offer the lowest possible costs while maintaining high standards of recycling, which will in the end benefit consumers and the environment”.

However, the review also found a wide variation in the way producers are asked to pay for the take back and recycling of electronic equipment from country to country. In Germany, The Netherlands, Norway and Sweden producers such as HP are charged the actual take back and recycling costs for products returned. In Austria and Spain producers are charged for every kilo sold, whereas Belgium and Switzerland are charging based on units sold.

“In our evaluation, we have found that there are no consistent standards for producers. HP’s goal has always been to keep customer costs down. The different charging systems across Europe may make low cost recycling a challenge”, warned Hieronymi.

HP is a technology solutions provider to consumers, businesses and institutions globally. The company’s offerings span IT infrastructure, global services, business and home computing, and imaging and printing. For the four fiscal quarters ended April 30, 2006, HP revenue totaled .9 billion. More information about HP (NYSE, Nasdaq: HPQ) is available at www.hp.com.