Recolight welcomes strong support for WEEE reform

Recolight welcomes the strong support for major reform of the UK WEEE system following the publication of the Government’s summary of responses to the WEEE consultation.

We are delighted by the very strong support for the changes to the household WEEE system, to make it fairer for all stakeholders.

Preferred WEEE option

49% of respondents put option 4 as their first choice, and 95% of respondents put option 3 as their first or second choice. Conversely 59% ranked option 1 (do nothing) as their least favoured proposal.

Both option 3 and 4 would be a good outcome for all stakeholders. Producers support these options because they remove the “must buy” market for WEEE evidence which is a cause of excessive costs in the current system, and because both options introduce a clear audit trail for WEEE treatment.

LEDs in category 13 with gas discharge lamps

84% of respondents supported the Government’s proposal to include LED and Gas Discharge Lamps in the same category.

This proposal will benefit the UK, by avoiding the risk of an unfunded (orphan) fluorescent lamp waste stream.

Local Authorities may take responsibility for their own WEEE

82% of respondents believe that Local Authorities should have the opportunity to take responsibility for WEEE if they can gain value from the recycling.  Any WEEE they do not choose to treat will be collected free of charge by producers.

This is a great way to incentivise and reward Local Authorities for the work they do in WEEE collection.

The consultation included a proposal to use substantiated estimates to assess the total amount of WEEE recycled in the UK, but which is not recorded within the UK’s formal WEEE system. We are pleased that the Government received ‘broad support’ for this approach.  Without it, the extremely ambitious targets in the new Directive would not be achievable.

High response rate from EEE producers

It was good to see that responses came from a wide range of sectors.  Given the very real concerns expressed by Producers about the operation of the system, it is unsurprising that 100 of the 256 responses came from producers and Trade Associations.  However, there were also significant responses from Local Authorities, Producer Compliance Schemes, and Waste Management Companies.  That makes it all the more pleasing that overall support for change was so clear.

The responses to the consultation show strong convergence.  We now look forward to working with BIS and other stakeholders to finalise the details to ensure timely and effective implementation for the 2014 compliance period.