WEEE recycling deals for Yorkshire and Hampshire

Hampshire has also confirmed its arrangements for WEEE collection under the producer responsibility regulations.

In Hampshire, producer compliance scheme ERP – the European Recycling Platform – will recycle collected electrical waste.

The WEEE Regulations brought in producer responsibility for electrical appliances from July this year, with manufacturers and importers of new goods now paying for the collection and recycling of old products (see letsrecycle.com story).

Despite the July start for producer responsibility, many councils are still to finalise the paperwork for working relationships with producer compliance schemes, which are handling the WEEE Regulation collection requirements for member manufacturers and importers.

Yorkshire

Northallerton-based Yorwaste – a local authority-owned waste management company in which North Yorkshire has a 77% stake and York a 33% stake – operates recycling centres in the county that have become designated collection facilities (DCFs) for WEEE.

Under the contracts with Bradford, Wakefield and North Yorkshire, Yorwaste will provide a free collection and recycling service for the three disposal authorities.

It is estimated that the contracts will involve the recycling of around 10,000 tonnes of electrical goods – as many as 300,000 items including fridges, freezers, televisions, washing machines and computers.

Yorwaste recycling manager, John Miller, said: “We are delighted to have won these three key contracts in the region. The new WEEE regime will radically transform the way electrical and electronic items are recycled and this provides us with an exciting opportunity.”

WeeeCare

WeeeCare is a subsidiary of Leeds waste and recycling company WasteCare, and has one of the highest memberships of UK producer compliance schemes by number of producers, with 780 members.

The scheme believes the Yorkshire DCF contracts will give it a “small surplus” of WEEE collection evidence compared to the amount needed to satisfy its members' obligations under the WEEE Regulations.

Peter Hunt, managing director of WasteCare, said the contracts with the Yorkshire councils were currently open ended – guaranteed for a year, after which they would be reviewed.

“This is because everything is still in a state of flux,” he explained, “no one really knows how this is going to go yet.”

Having said that, Mr Hunt told letsrecycle.com that since July 1, when services had started with contracts yet to be signed, the collections from Yorkshire DCFs had been “going very well”, although the roll-out of collection facilities was still underway.

“We've already seen some opportunities to increase recycling,” he revealed. “The councils seem happy, and we are identifying ways to improve the service.”

WasteCare says it recycles 92% of the WEEE it handles, which along with equipment from businesses totals around 120,000 tonnes a year. Mr Hunt said the site in Garforth, Leeds, includes a refurbishment facility where items like computers can be repaired for re-use. The facility has been up and running for 12 years, he said.

Hampshire

Meanwhile, Hampshire has announced that it has signed an agreement with ERP, one of the largest producer compliance schemes operating in the UK, until December 2008, with an option to extend for a further years.

The agreement covers the recycling of WEEE from Hampshire's 26 household waste recycling centres.

While Hampshire's waste contractor Veolia Environmental Services also runs a WEEE producer compliance scheme, Hampshire said it had chosen ERP for its “proven track record” on WEEE collection.

ERP, which has 50 members including the likes of Sony, Braun, Electrolux and Hewlett Packard, has experience gained operating recycling services in nine European countries under the WEEE Directive, the original legislation from Brussels on which the UK's WEEE Regulations are based.

The scheme works with logistics firm Geodis UK to collect electrical appliances for recycling, and has agreements in place with more than 55 UK local authorities (see letsrecycle.com story).

Hampshire county council said ERP would be work with the existing recycling centre operators to “ensure a seamless transition with no adverse effect on the service to the public”.

Cllr Mel Kendal, the county's executive member for environment said: “The partnership with ERP allows us to ensure WEEE is disposed of in accordance with the WEEE Directive, and we are looking forward to developing a good working relationship with producers through this initiative.”

Scott Butler, general manager of ERP UK added: “We are excited by this partnership with Hampshire county council, who we recognise as being a leading UK local authority on environmental issues.”