Defra published its proposed targets for 2019 this week – which will require a 12% increase in collections compared to 2018 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Producer compliance schemes have questioned whether the proposals are achievable, but the figures have been welcomed by WEEE reprocessors who say it could boost the tonnages of WEEE received at their facilities.
Increased collection rates are needed to ensure that the UK meets its EU member state WEEE collection target – but come at a time when collections of WEEE appear to be on the decline, with targets having been missed in consecutive years.
Speaking to letsrecycle.com, John Redmayne, managing director of the compliance scheme ERP UK, said that the proposals indicate a ‘change in approach’ from Defra in setting the target levels, and he questioned whether the proposal is likely to be achievable given apparent recent trends.
He said: “There is a change in approach which is a concern; taking the EU target, deducting non-obligated WEEE and saying all the rest might come from collections; whether the data for actual collections supports that or not. We think that in a number of categories the numbers are unrealistic.
“Cooling has a sensible increase, based on some weight-based data from producers and recyclers. For many other categories I do not think that such good data is available. There is an increase in display equipment proposed despite year-on-year decline in that category.”
WEEE fee
Producer compliance schemes who fail to meet their targets are required to pay into a compliance fee – used to finance projects to boost the collections – which collected £8 million for 2017.
Defra hopes that funding from the WEEE fee would help to meet the higher target for 2019, through projects including a communications campaign, and research on the sources and end destinations for WEEE.
Mr Redmayne suggested that work to capture better data on WEEE flows will be important in setting future targets – but he questioned whether a communications campaign could be delivered in time to have a tangible impact on collections in the short term.
He said: “A communication and behaviour change campaign is something we welcome, but realistically it is still in scoping and development stage and so we would not expect a campaign until significantly later this year.”
Vikkie Fitzgerald, WEEE compliance scheme manager at Clarity Environmental said that the figures point towards a ‘challenging year’ for WEEE schemes.
She said: “The main headline is that SMW [small mixed WEEE] has the biggest overall jump in collection target, particularly categories 3 and 4. Defra envisages that the national communications campaign, financed by the 2017 compliance fee, will increase consumer awareness, leading to a significant increase in the amount recycled. The campaign is being designed to inform householders that it is perfectly safe, from a data point of view, to recycle their electronics, and how and where they can recycle items.
“The overall picture is that it is clear that it will be another challenging year for WEEE, but with a lot of activity financed by the 2017 compliance fee, it could also be one of the most interesting for the sector.”
AATF Forum
The proposals have been met with a positive response from the AATF Forum, which represents the UK’s WEEE processing sector.
“We recognise that for some categories, these will be challenging, but we strongly believe that more must be done to ensure that household and commercial WEEE is properly treated through the AATF infrastructure and not allowed to leak out of the controlled system into unauthorised disposal routes such as illegal exports.”
Phil Conran
AATF Forum
Phil Conran, chair of the AATF Forum, said: “The AATF Forum welcomes the proposals put forward by Defra for the 2019 WEEE collection targets. We recognise that for some categories, these will be challenging, but we strongly believe that more must be done to ensure that household and commercial WEEE is properly treated through the AATF infrastructure and not allowed to leak out of the controlled system into unauthorised disposal routes such as illegal exports.
“Whilst we recognise the benefits of the Compliance Fee, we believe that more must be done to meet these targets through physical collections and not through use of the Compliance Fee. Members of the Forum will seek to work with producers, Producer Compliance Schemes and the regulators to identify and reduce illegal activity, increase collections and raise treatment standards.”
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