Public Servant Lifestyle

Producers of electrical goods will from July be required to meet the environmental imapact and costs of dealing with waste products under new rules.

Laying the new Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations before Parliament, Science Minister Malcolm Wicks said: "Electrical waste such as toasters, fridges and washing machines are a growing environmental problem here in the UK with over 2 million tonnes being dumped in landfill last year alone. There is currently no incentive for those that produce them to care about the life cycle of their products. These regulations will mean they can no longer shirk this responsibility."

Responsible Producers

"When I announced the clear implementation timetable in the summer it was to give business as much time as possible to prepare. Some responsible producers are already factoring the cost of recycling their product into the design process and recognise that caring about what happens to the goods they sell needn't cost the earth."

Following extensive consultation the new practical regulations to implement the WEEE Directive in the UK mean that all companies who import, manufacture and re-brand electrical and electronic equipment will also have to finance its treatment, recovery and environmentally safe disposal at the other end of its life. The new rules recognise that this is the responsibility of those who produce the goods, and supports broader Government initiatives for dealing with waste that focus on producer responsibility.

In practice the announcement means that by 15 March producers will need to join an approved producer compliance scheme to ensure that they are able to comply with the Directive from 1 July.

The regulations will:

Enable consumers to dispose of their electrical waste free of charge at accessible and appropriate places. Consumers will start to see changes from July, with new signage at their local council refuse centres, in shops, and on new electrical products

Give distributors the choice of how to meet their obligations under the Directive by either joining the Distributor Take-back Scheme (DTS) or by offering customers in-store take-back

Allow existing relationships currently managing electrical waste to continue. This is consistent with the Government's overall approach to regulation, which is to be as 'light-touch' as possible

Enable any operator of a designated collection facility (DCF) to arrange with a producer compliance scheme (PCS) to have the electrical waste deposited at their site taken away for treatment and recycling by that PCS, free of charge

Allow for and encourage the re-use of equipment after it has been discarded where possible

Allow for the continued collection of old equipment at the same time of delivering new goods by retailers, and some producers

Also announced at the same time as the Directive was the appointment of Valpak Retail WEEE Services as the operator of the Distributor Take-back Scheme (DTS) funded by £10m from retailers. The scheme will establish a network of designated collection facilities where consumers can get rid of their electrical waste. The money will primarily be paid to local authorities to assist in the improvement of civic amenity sites so that electrical waste can be separately collected there.

Environmental Impact

The WEEE Directive aims to address the environmental impact of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) and to promote its separate collection when it becomes waste (WEEE). WEEE is a priority waste stream for the EU because of its growing volume in the municipal waste stream and its potential hazardousness following disposal.

The Directive introduces formalised producer responsibility for waste electrical and electronic equipment - under the new rules producers will have to finance treatment and recycling or recovery of separately collected WEEE in the UK to specified treatment standards and recycling/recovery targets. Retailers have an obligation to offer take-back services to householders. The Directive does not place any obligations on householders, and they will be not be prohibited from throwing WEEE away with general domestic rubbish. It will however encourage more WEEE to be reused or recycled by ensuring that there is a network of facilities in place where householders can return their used equipment free of charge.

The full WEEE Regulations and the final Regulatory Impact Assessment are available from the Department for Trade & Industry (DTI) website. Non-statutory Guidance will be published soon by the DTI.

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