The new registry of schemes includes the scheme “eWEEE”, described as being operated by a company called RESC Ltd.
The new scheme has the same address and telephone number as the established scheme REPIC Ltd – the Recycling Electrical Producers' Industry Consortium – for a headquarters based at Repic House, near Bury in Lancashire.
According to Companies House, RESC Ltd is based at the same address and was incorporated on August 29, 2007.
REPIC is the largest producer compliance scheme in the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) sector based on the tonnage of electronics its members sell onto the household market.
Its members account for around 52% of goods sold to householders by weight, and include brands like Hoover, Indesit, Kenwood, Panasonic and Philips Electronics.
A call to the number listed in the Agency registry for the eWEEE scheme was answered by a REPIC employee, who told letsrecycle.com she had not heard of the eWEEE scheme.
Electrolink
The sudden appearance of the eWEEE scheme and its apparent links with REPIC has caused some surprise within the electronics recycling sector.
REPIC has been recently in the news because of its dealings with rival scheme Electrolink regarding its need for additional evidence to show its members' recycling obligations have been fulfilled under the WEEE Regulations (see letsrecycle.com story).
However, it is not yet known whether this situation has any bearing on the registration of the new producer compliance scheme, eWEEE.
In order to register a WEEE producer compliance scheme, a fee of £12,000 must be paid to the Environment Agency. The scheme could then recruit members – manufacturers and importers of new electrical appliances – and arrange the collection of old electrical goods on their behalf.
The new eWEEE scheme is registered as an “open scheme”, meaning that any electrical producer would be free to join.
Producers who are already members of a scheme are likely to have signed three-year contracts, however, and cannot transfer scheme mid-year according to the regulations.
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