DSG has secured the service in a direct form because unlike most other retailers it has decided to provide its own take-back service rather than signing up to the national retailer scheme which sees arrangements made to collect WEEE – waste electrical and electronic equipment – from civic amenity sites. DSG collects goods, such as washing machines, when it delivers new ones and consumers can also take WEEE back to their stores.
The agreement is a major boost for Environcom, which revealed last month that it had taken over the lease for the site in Grantham, Lincolnshire that will become home to a new £10 million waste electronics and electrical equipment (WEEE) recycling facility (see letsrecycle.com story).
As well as its network of retail stores, DSG International (DSGi) also runs Dixons.co.uk and Pixmania.co.uk online, and environCom will now be responsible for safely and efficiently disposing of equipment such as fridges, washing machines and televisions to ensure the company meets its obligations as a retailer under the WEEE Directive.
Celebrating the sealing of the deal, environCom's chief executive, Joseph Quigley, said: “We are delighted to have this opportunity to work with DSG International. Securing this contract is great news for our company as it firmly establishes environCom as one of the major processors of WEEE in the UK.
“This success reflects the breadth of knowledge and experience in the environCom team in winning and running large enterprise contracts and businesses,” he added.
Reverse logistics
The agreement will also see DSG's operations director for reverse logistics, Sarah Geddes, joining environCom's board of directors, and she said: “Our implementation of the WEEE Directive and the store support network we have in place make it the easiest place for customers to recycle and return their electrical and electronic equipment.
She added: “We're looking forward to working with the environCom team on a variety of new and exciting opportunities.”
This latest piece of good news for environCom comes as it continues its recovery from the fire in September 2007 that devastated its £2.1 million WEEE recycling facility in Grantham (see letsrecycle.com story).
With last month's news that the lease on the replacement Grantham facility had been secured, the company now hopes to have the new plant up-and-running later this month.
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