And, two schemes – Electrolink and REPIC – are to meet tomorrow to discuss a deal between them for surplus evidence.
Trading
They must do so if they hold a surplus or insufficient recycling evidence with respect to their members' producer responsibility obligations under the WEEE Regulations since July 2007.
Evidence is issued to producer schemes by designated collection facilities – which include 1,111 local authority sites in the UK. However, some schemes have contracted with too few or too many DCFs to suit their members' obligations, which are based on the weight of new products put on the household market, and hence need to trade evidence to balance their books.
Informing schemes about the latest phase of the Settlement Centre, which co-ordinates the data for the UK's WEEE producer responsibility system, the government's Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform reminded schemes that evidence can be traded up until the end of May under the extended deadline, although it must be recorded on the Settlement Centre by the end of April.
The Centre is only accessible to schemes and DCFs, or recyclers working on their behalf, trading can now be carried out in either kilogrammes or tonnes.
BERR said: “The deadline for submission of evidence for the first compliance period has been extended to end of the April. Evidence can be traded up to the end of May. Under the Regulations, PCS will have until 1 June to submit their declaration of compliance to the Environment Agency.”
Meeting
Two producer compliance schemes thought to have the biggest discrepancies between the WEEE recycling evidence they hold and their members' requirements under the Regulations are to meet tomorrow to hammer out a deal.
Electrolink has a membership of producers who do not need all the evidence from the 200 local authority sites it is working with to recycle WEEE. It will be meeting REPIC, whose producer members include Hoover, JVC, Philips, Panasonic and Toshiba – and includes just over half of the tonnage of new electrical goods placed on the UK market each year – but REPIC does not have enough collection sites on its network to cover its members needs.
After months of conflict, leading to cash flow problems for some local authorities working with Electrolink, both sides were optimistic today of reaching an agreement.
In a statement ahead of the meeting, Philip Morton, chief executive of REPIC Ltd, said: “I can confirm that REPIC and Electrolink will be meeting tomorrow (Thursday 21st February 2008) to discuss how both parties can work together to find a fair solution regarding the distribution of WEEE.”
Electrolink chief executive Barry Van Danzig said: “Naturally the contents of the meeting must remain confidential, but hopefully we will get a resolution and we will make a joint statement afterwards.”
Advisors
Meanwhile, the government's independent panel of industry advisors are to meet next week to discuss and finalise the areas of WEEE policy and regulation that may need to be improved.
The WEEE Advisory Body held their first meeting in early January to finalise the terms of the group, which could be highly influential in shaping the progression of electronics producer responsibility in the UK.
BERR has set up a website for the Advisory Body, to include minutes of the group's quarterly meetings. It said of the group: “The WEEE Advisory Body aims to publish a short progress report in April of each year, commencing 2009, summarising the key work areas, progress and other achievements.”
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