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Industry broadly welcomes introduction of mandatory WEEE collection targets


Compliance schemes for the collection of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) will be subject to mandatory targets from January 2014 once changes to EU law are implemented in the UK, the Government has confirmed.

Once the recast WEEE Directive is implemented, producers of electrical and electronic goods and equipment (EEE) above certain thresholds will be required to join a waste compliance scheme, according to the Government's response to its consultation on how it will implement the changes.

The UK's approach is based on the third of four options consulted on by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and was one of two options that emerged as preferred by producers, local authorities and compliance schemes during the consultation exercise. As such, it has been broadly welcomed by industry bodies such as the Joint Trade Association, according to environmental law expert Eluned Watson of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com.

"Implementation of the mandatory collection target and compliance fee system brings an end to the trading of WEEE evidence that many within the industry have long argued to be costly, resulting in producers incurring costs far above the actual costs of compliance and a market that has been distorted by surplus evidence notes," said Watson.

"However, the draft Regulations only include 'enabling' provisions to allow the Secretary of State to approve the establishment of a methodology for setting the compliance fee. In order for the new system to work, it is imperative that the fee is set at the right level. If the fee is set too low, this will serve to disincentivise physical collection by Producer Compliance Schemes as the fee will merely act as a low cost form of compliance. In contrast, if the fee is set too high, it could lead to market distortions," she said.

The Government has said that it will consult further on an appropriate compliance fee. A short consultation on new draft WEEE Regulations closes on 1 November 2013.

The EU's recast WEEE Directive (34-page / 978KB PDF) came into force in August 2012. It updates the previous regime, which dates back to 2003, with the introduction of ambitious new collection targets for producers of WEEE. The recast WEEE Directive also covers a wider range of EEE. Member states have until 14 February 2014 to implement the changes and introduce new national implementing legislation.

WEEE, or e-waste, is one of the fastest growing waste streams, according to the European Commission. However, only one third of e-waste is separately collected through existing frameworks. The previous WEEE Directive made manufacturers and producers responsible for the safe collection and disposal of used equipment and required member states to create mandatory free collection schemes.

The recast WEEE Directive introduces an initial collection target of 45% of electronic equipment sold from 2016, rising to 65% of equipment sold or 85% of waste generated from 2019. In addition, from 2018 the rules will apply to all types of electronic waste by ending many exemptions for old or difficult-to-collect items.

BIS received over 200 responses to its consultation, of which 95% selected the target and compliance fee option as their first or second preference of the four suggested options to implement the recast WEEE Directive in the UK. Under the Government's new implementation plans, all those who produce more than five tonnes of WEEE per year will be required to join a compliance scheme. Each of these will be given a tonnage target by category of EEE placed onto the market, in proportion to the UK target and the total market share of their members during the previous year. Schemes that collect more than their target will be required to finance the excess or retain the income, while under-collecting schemes will have to pay a 'compliance fee' per tonne of WEEE they have not collected.

The new regime will also give local authorities more freedom to choose types of waste that they would like to manage and treat directly. Any revenue or cost for handling this waste will be absorbed by the local authority. Environmental law expert Eluned Watson said that local authorities would welcome the flexibility to 'self-treat' higher value WEEE streams, but warned that they could end up "exposed" to falling commodity prices.

"Some also argue that the anticipated value WEEE streams may end up as a loss to be financed by the local taxpayer; or that local authorities may try to pass such risks to their waste management contractor or Approved Authorised Treatment Facility partners through contractual terms," she said.

"Low volume producers of EEE will welcome the introduction of a 'de minimis' threshold, where producers that place less than five tonnes of EEE on the market per year will not need to join a producer compliance scheme unless they choose to but will instead register directly with the relevant environmental agency and pay an annual £30 fee. The Government's consultation response confirms this threshold, but there remain concerns from some producers that this proposal will simply pass the costs from the smaller producers to the larger producers," she said.

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