Recolight welcomes proposed removal of WEEE ‘three month storage’ regulation

Recolight has welcomed the approval of a new amendment to the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations which allows collection points to store WEEE until collection bins are full, rather than the current storage time limit of three months.

Under the revised Regulations, DEFRA, the Welsh Assembly and the Environment Agency have amended Schedule 2 and 3 of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations to allow for an unlimited timeframe for storage of WEEE (which includes Fluorescent Lamps) providing the total quantity stored does not exceed 30 cubic metres.

Recolight CEO Nigel Harvey said “This news is a major development for the lighting industry and is greatly welcomed by Recolight which has been lobbying for this change for the past year. The current three month time span imposes unworkable restrictions on our 900 collection points which means they often have to empty containers regardless of the quantity of lamps which have been collected. The amended Regulations will help reduce the carbon footprint of collections as bins will now only have to be emptied when they are full.  It will also help cut down on unnecessary paperwork for sites.

The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations are due to come in force on 6th April 2010 and provide an update to Schedule 3 of the Environmental Permitting Regulations regarding the storage of WEEE at collection points. In order to be compliant with the new revised exemptions, the waste must only be stored at a collection point pending recovery/disposal elsewhere and does not cover storage at bulking up sites.  Currently sites are only allowed to store WEEE (up to 50 cubic metres) for three months.

For further information regarding the changes DEFRA have produced draft guidance entitled ‘Environmental Permitting Guidance Exempt Waste Operations’ which is undergoing consultation and was due to close on 5 January 2010.