Retailers&#39 WEEE compliance scheme on hold

The BRC is waiting until the government has clarified the operation of its proposed clearing house, which will manage producer responsibility to recycle separately collected WEEE.

The government had expected to publish draft regulations and guidance for the Directive in “late spring” this year but these are now expected in mid-July (see letsrecycle.com story).

Under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive retailers are obligated to provide like-for-like take-back on old equipment or fund alternative collections. In the UK many retailers do not wish to offer in-store take-back, preferring to use a compliance scheme to handle their obligations by funding a network of collection points for WEEE.

Nigel Smith, BRC director of corporate social responsibility, told letsrecycle.com that until the details of the clearing house are decided by government the BRC does not want to pursue its own compliance scheme. “We have received expressions of interest but we are not going to do anything more about finding a service provider without more detail,” he said.

There is still too much uncertainty about how the retailer compliance scheme, the clearing house and the producers' compliance schemes are going to interact, Mr Smith said. “Only over the last few weeks have we been brought in together to see how we will all work together,” he explained.

The BRC submitted proposals for the structure of its compliance scheme to Defra and the DTI last week, and has already received expressions of interest from companies wanting to run the compliance scheme.

Proposals

Mr Smith said that the BRC's plans have so far received a positive response but he will be meeting with the DTI and Defra in the next few weeks to discuss them further.

The BRC is looking for flexibility in its compliance scheme to encourage retailers to provide take-back services. “There must be flexibility in the compliance scheme to acknowledge activities that the retailers are already doing,” said Mr Smith.

This could mean that retailers are able to 'opt out' of the compliance scheme for specific categories of WEEE where they already have collection services in place. A retailer could therefore opt out for large white goods if it provides a take-back on delivery service, but choose to sign up to the compliance scheme for smaller electrical goods it does not provide take-back services for.

Another important point the BRC is looking for guidance on is the government's definition of an &#39ade;quate network' of collection points for WEEE, as called for in the Directive.