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JTA’s WEEE compliance fee proposal approved

Ministers have approved the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) compliance fee proposal submitted by the Joint Trade Association (JTA) for 2020.

Two proposals for the fee were put forward, by the JTA and compliance scheme Valpak. It is the third year running that the JTA has beaten Valpak to run the scheme.

2020 will be the fourth consecutive year in which a JTA-proposed methodology is used to determine the fee

Susanne Baker, chair of the JTA and associate director for climate, environment, and sustainability at technology trade association techUK, said: “We welcome today’s news that the JTA has once again been successful in its proposal to operate the WEEE compliance fee.

“2020 was clearly an extremely challenging year for the sector, and we think the mechanism correctly reflects that by ensuring the costs of collecting and treating WEEE are fairly and equitably shared amongst producers, regardless of what scheme they are in, whilst always retaining the incentive to collect all WEEE arising.

“More than ever, 2020 illustrated the benefits of having the flexibility a compliance fee can bring within the WEEE regulatory system.”

This will be the fourth consecutive year in which a JTA-proposed methodology has been used to determine the fee. The JTA is a group of product-focused trade associations which work on policy issues around producer responsibility.

Consultation

The decision to approve the JTA’s proposal was taken following a consultation which began in October and ended in November 2020 (see letsrecycle.com story).

In a statement published yesterday (2 February), the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) said it received 23 responses to its consultation, with “strong support” for a compliance fee expressed “across industry” and by local authorities. A total of 19 responses are said to have preferred the JTA’s proposal.

Defra’s statement reads: “Ministers have now approved the proposal submitted by the JTA for the 2020 compliance year – and for it to be administered by Mazars. Ministers accepted this proposal subject to one modification which was agreed between the JTA and Defra – the ‘surplus escalator’ should be reintroduced to the proposal in addition to the normal escalator.”

Compliance fee

The fee is an alternative mechanism used by compliance schemes and obligated business if they have insufficient recycling evidence to meet their WEEE collection targets for the year.

Defra confirmed in June that any 2020 compliance fee methodology for WEEE would need to take the impact of the coronavirus pandemic into account (see letsrecycle.com story).

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