Agency investigates DCF WEEE leakage

Around 20 local authority civic amenity sites are being audited by the Environment Agency, as part of its ongoing work to investigate the leakage of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) from collection facilities.

Vistis to the sites were scheduled to take place throughout December 2012 and January 2013, the Agency revealed at the latest meeting of the Agencies and Industry WEEE Liaison Group (AIWOLG) in November 2012.

At the meeting, the Agency told representatives from compliance schemes, councils and WEEE reprocessors: “Visits will take place at both high and low risk DCFs in order to identify good and bad practice and whether schemes are adhering to the DCF code of practice, with 20 visits planned in total: 10 prior to Christmas, and 10 in January.”

The move follows concerns raised in 2012 that a number of councils were breaching the Designated Collection Facility (DCF) Code of Practice, which outlines the obligations of local authorities and compliance schemes for the collection of WEEE.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) contacted councils in a letter sent in February 2012 to warn them against potential breaches of the code concerning the collection of WEEE by compliance schemes from council-run facilities.

The letter was sent after concerns were raised by the WEEE Schemes Forum over local authorities requesting payments for access to WEEE and leakage of WEEE from collection facilities (see letsrecycle.com story).

Leakage

According to the Forum, much of the leakage was occurring as WEEE with a possible scrap metal value, was being diverted into other local authority facilities or into light iron scrap, where revenue is retained by the authority and is consequently not recycled by PCSs who have an obligation to collect the material on behalf of their members.

As part of its work to prevent future breaches of the code by councils, the Agency has conducted an analysis on returns submitted by schemes and local authorities regarding WEEE received at DCFs, to produce a list of sites where WEEE may be leaking from the system.

Using the list, the Agency targeted several DCFs that have been audited to check that the code of practice is being followed. The targeted DCF sites have not yet been named.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency, told letsrecycle.com last week: Were still in the process of auditing DCF sites and aiming to provide an update on the progress by early spring.

The Agency expects to be able to report on key findings as early as the end of March, where it will make recommendations as to whether any aspects of the DCF Code of Practice can be strengthened.

But, the Agency revealed at the AIWOLG meeting that the study would aim to identify best practice for running DCF sites, rather than to take enforcement actions against DCFs that are thought to be breaching the code of practice.