Dell has announced plans for a free computer recycling day ahead of the introduction of the European Waste and Electrical and Equipment (WEEE) directive.

The PC giant's offer of free recycling on September 25th in Limerick, Ireland, marks the first stage in a European recycling tour that will seek to raise awareness of computer recycling.

The recycling process will yield a number of re-usable pgm components, and will also help to prevent potential environmental damage that can occur when computers are disposed of via traditional methods.

Nick Hartey, Dell's vice president of European manufacturing, told ZDNetUK that the firm had not yet decided whether the scheme would be extended to the UK but noted the success of a similar initiative in the US.

There the Dell recycling tour took in 17 cities, collecting nearly 1,000 tons of unwanted computer equipment.

The event coincides with the advent of the WEEE directive, which is designed to ensure manufacturers and consumers can be held accountable for the way in which obsolete equipment is disposed. WEEE rules are expected to find their way into UK law later this year.

Computers contain a number of components and circuits made from palladium, while platinum is an essential component of the magnetic alloys used in computer hard disks.