Valpak claims WEEE evidence success

The scheme, which with 773 members had the second largest evidence obligation for the 2007 compliance period, is the first major PCS to declare that it believes it has met its obligations for WEEE recycling and reuse.

Steve Gough, Valpak chief executive, said: “I am absolutely delighted with the fact that we have secured the total tonnage and mix of evidence we need to comply for the first 2007 period.

“Of course there have been some teething problems with the start of the regulations but this happened in packaging and it will happen in future legislation. We have used our experience and knowledge to handle the issues as they arose and our efforts have paid off.”

Confident

While Valpak's assertion that it has met its evidence obligations will have to be verified by BERR after the June 16 deadline for the final submission of WEEE evidence, it is confident that its contracts with 36 waste disposal authorities, and 190 designated collection facilities, have helped it to reach its targets.

“The commitment shown to the new system by local authorities has been fantastic,” said Mr Gough. “Valpak will work with our authorised approved treatment facilities (AATF) and reuse partners to ensure that we help authorities achieve their recycling targets as well as securing the material our members need to comply.”

Uncertainty

However, with June 16 nearing, the situation is less straightforward for a number of Valpak's fellow producer compliance schemes who are still uncertain over whether they will be able to obtain sufficient evidence to meet their members' producer obligations.

The situation remains that the Electrolink scheme has surplus evidence which will need to be acquired by other schemes, including Repic. It remains unclear whether the other schemes will acquire this evidence because of concerns over costs and contractual relationships with Electrolink. This has occured largely because schemes, such as Repic, could not secure enough evidence on direct contractual terms from a sufficient number of civic amenity sites to guarantee the levels of evidence they required.

Electrolink in turn is thought to be keen to ensure that it sells evidence and to cover its costs to contractors and councils, with Viridor one of its major contractors.

Costs incurred

Earlier this week BERR indicated that it would not intervene in the trading of WEEE evidence, only going so far as to remind schemes that “the price of evidence should be in line with the costs incurred by the selling scheme” (see letsrecycle.com story). More developments are expected before the deadline of mid-June.