New waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) regulations are thought imminent, with the government still saying producer responsibility will be introduced by August 2005.
While councils will have no legal obligations to collect WEEE, some local authorities are beginning to prepare CA sites as the first line in the WEEE collection and treatment process. But, some in the sector are wary of jumping straight in.
” We would quite like to see a more ambitious scheme that looks at more than just CA sites. “
– Alice Roberts, LGA
Many of those involved have told letsrecycle.com that the best way to be prepared is to start early, despite the lack of completed legislation. Alice Roberts executive manager for waste and environment at the Local Government Association (LGA) said that many councils have already begun separating WEEE at their CA sites.
But, Ms Roberts said that CA sites should not be seen as the only option for collecting WEEE from households. She said: “We are disappointed that people are still predominantly looking at CA sites, when some areas do not even have CA sites particularly available to them.
“We would quite like to see a more ambitious scheme that looks at more than just CA sites,” she added.
Bexley
One of those councils already ahead in preparing for the new regulations is the London borough of Bexley, which has won Beacon status for its recycling, and has been operating a separate WEEE collection service for about 18 months.
The council originally collected some large electrical items as part of a general scrap metal stream, but has now separated collections into scrap metal, large WEEE and smaller WEEE items.
Steve Didsbury, waste and recycling manager at Bexley, said: “We basically wanted to see what was out and there and what we could gain from collecting WEEE. The advantage of us going early is that we have the chance to make mistakes. There is plenty of time to make modifications if we get things wrong.
“It also means that we are able to offer a more informed input in discussions regarding the way to handle WEEE,” he added.
” The advantage of us going early is that we have the chance to mistakes. There is plenty of time to make modifications if we get things wrong “
– Steve Didsbury, Bexley borough council
Mr Didsbury said that Bexley had collected between 120 and 150 tonnes in each of the three month periods for which they have carried out analysis. Despite separating WEEE from the general metal scrap collection containers, Bexley has seen no reduction in the amount of general scrap being collected, which Mr Didsbury said meant extra WEEE was coming out of the municipal waste stream, rather than existing levels only being separated.
He explained: “There has been very little change in the amount of scrap metal we have collected, though so a great deal of the WEEE collected must have come out of the municipal waste stream.”
Cambridgeshire
Another council that has begun collecting WEEE at its CA sites is Cambridgeshire, which has hit the headlines recently for its Private Finance Initiative award from Defra (see letsrecycle.com story).
The county collects large electrical equipment at all CA sites, as well as offering a collection for smaller items at one of its sites. Cambridgeshire believes that when the legislation comes into place it will be “well ahead” of the rest of the country for collecting WEEE.
Mark Shelton, recycling manager for Cambridge, said: “To start with we are supposed to be collecting 4kg per person, looking at our last figures we are already collecting 7kg. It makes good sense to be putting washing machines, tumble dryers, et cetera, through a separate route.”
Mr Shelton did say, however, that the council would be waiting for the legislation to be in place before making any further changes. He explained: “At the moment any changes that we have made have been paid for by ourselves, hopefully once the legislation comes in the producers will cover these costs.”
Caution
This element of caution concerning the final WEEE legislation is shared by Onyx, a waste management firm that runs CA sites on behalf of local authorities across the country. Onyx believes it will be “more than ready” for the WEEE Directive, but is waiting for the legislation to be in place.
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James Potter, general manager of materials recovery and recycling at Onyx, said: “We are not going to be making any changes until we know what the legislation is.
“Onyx has experience of handling WEEE due to our international sister companies in places like France and Norway. But we are not prepared to put something in place when we are not 100% sure what is expected of us,” Mr Potter said.
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