Last week the Department of Trade and Industry announced that producer responsibility for waste electrical and electronic waste under the terms of the EU Directive would be delayed an extra six months, until June 2006 (see letsrecycle.com story).
” We were looking to increase our employees from 73 to 171. That now won't happen, which is a very sad thing.“
– Andy Slaney, M Baker Recycling
Despite the approval of electronics producers, compliance schemes and local authorities, the delay has effectively cost the reprocessors six months worth of profit, they have said.
M Baker Recycling
Merseyside firm M Baker Recycling narrowly avoided a costly investment this month, as it was on the verge of putting a down payment for 1.75 million worth of recycling equipment from its German supplier when the DTI announced the delay. The company has been able to postpone the purchase.
Andy Slaney, director of M Baker Recycling, said: “A five-month delay on a debt of that size would have been very costly indeed and we would have lost a lot of money. We had to delay investing in the machinery, there is no point in having a piece of kit that you just look at, we will now look to bring the equipment in by May 2006.”
“Thankfully we hadn't invested the money, but companies that have may come across problems. I don't understand how the UK can't get this thing implemented when smaller nations are able to, this is a very poor performance on the UK's part,” he added.
Mr Slaney said the delay had brought an end to the company's planned large-scale recruitment. “We were looking to increase our employees from 73 to 171. That now won't happen, which is a very sad thing.”
Shore
Perth-based cathode ray tube (CRT) reprocessor Shore Recycling has not been so fortunate, having already invested based on the government's previously-announced start date for producer responsibility, January 2006.
Company commercial director Malcolm Todd said: “We are quite upset by the further delay, as a private company we have taken the government on their word and invested significantly in the infrastructure.
“We made our investments in line with the original timetable and these further delays do not help us,” he added.
Technowaste
Dutch-owned, Basildon-based electronics recycling company Technowaste is another that has already made investments in advance of the producer responsibility delay. The company says it will be ready to start expanded operations in 2006, but according to managing director David Wilson the fresh delay will mean new equipment being under-used.
” We have already made significant investments in WEEE processing, which will now be under utilised for a further six months.“
– David Wilson, Technowaste
Mr Wilson said: “Technowaste are ready for a January start date, but delays do cost money. We have already made significant investments in WEEE processing, which will now be under utilised for a further six months.”
Citiraya
Singapore-owned, Aberdare-based reprocessor Citiraya opened its CRT recycling plant earlier this year, and is another that now has to fund itself for an extra six months.
“Our investment strategy was linked to the original implementation dates,” said the company's special projects manager, Jim McDowall. “The impact of the date move has lead to a further six months of sustained funding. The additional delay by the DTI is likely to lead to potential postponement from a major producer.”
Despite the hole left by the WEEE Directive, Mr McDowall said that the repercussions of re-classifying CRTs as hazardous should result in waste being re-directed from landfill sites to processing sites.
Sims
Sims Group, one of the largest recycling companies in the UK, has said the delay will not cause it much hardship because many customers have already begun to take the recycling of electrical waste seriously.
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Spokesperson Myles Pilkington said: “We are not surprised by the delay, but we are ready to go now regardless of when legislation starts.
“We have already begun working with many customers – some for quite a while. Companies we work with want to be ready and are testing things out before they have to under the legislation for costs and effects. They may not yet be at full tilt but they are certainly working towards the start of legislation,” he added.
Letsrecycle.com is holding a special conference on the way forward for waste electronics on October 12. For more details see the letsrecycle.com events page
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