“Producers will need to be aware that gate fees will have to rise to compensate for the low market fees we're getting,” he said, adding that “how far things will have to rise is a grey area”.
Mr Weeks said that producer compliance schemes (PCS) should be prepared for the cost of producer responsibility to increase “significantly”, albeit not in the short term.
And, he called for schemes to continue to use high quality reprocessing avenues to ensure the WEEE system kept operating as it should.
“As long as compliance schemes opt for proper treatment then we have a sustainable marketplace and a level playing field,” he claimed.
“Investment has to be supported and the market has to be a sustainable one to avoid things being dumped,” and warned that, if this didn't happen, and producer compliance pursued another avenue, the “dramatic effect could be equal to the fridge mountain crisis”.
Understanding
Justin Greenaway, contracts manager for Kent-based WEEE reprocessor SWEEEP, revealed that his firm had already had to increase its gate fee, but “not by that much”, and explained that producer compliance schemes (PCS) had been “fairly understanding” over the issue in discussions they had held in recent days.
And, he said that, with the dramatic fall in metals prices, the value of plastics was now particularly important, commenting: “Our plastic, ironically, is earning us more than our ferrous content, it's frightening and unprecedented.”
Mr Greenaway added that the company, which processes 1,500 tonnes a month of WEEE, was taking “great care” to keep its plastics of a high quality, using a zigzag air separator to remove dirt, and added that “its making it still viable, if the plastics have value”.
Viridor
The warning of increased gate fees was echoed by Bill Griffiths, recycling manager at Viridor, who operates WEEE reprocessing facilities at Perth and St Helens.
“If there is no end market for end products that has to filter back to the gate fee,” he told letsrecycle.com, adding that “producers need to accept that they need to pick up the costs”.
Mr Griffiths added that it was important for producer compliance schemes to compensate reprocessors and operators of CA sites for their loss of revenue sooner rather than later.
Prices
Investment has to be supported and the market has to be a sustainable one to avoid things being dumped
Jeff Weeks, environCom
Duncan Simpson, commercial manager for PCS Valpak, acknowledged that the falling commodity prices could have a knock-on effect for producer compliance schemes.
He explained that prices charged by PCS to their manufacturer members might change, but to what extent remained unclear, and added that Valpak was in the process of explaining the situation with regards commodity prices to its members.
“It does appear the prices people charge for WEEE will go up,” he said, explaining that this would be easier “as long as that's explained to customers in a prudent way, taking a long term view”.
Mr Simpson confirmed that “we haven't made any final decision on where we might move prices to, if we move them at all.”
Giving detail on just how the fall in metal prices was affecting the sector, he said: “The major WEEE prices, in many respects, are affected by the price of scrap, and in particular steel.”
“That can vary across categories depending on their steel content, so the amount of revenues PCS are receiving will go down and reprocessors will find revenue is affected,” he added.
Evidence
Another WEEE recycler told letsrecycle.com that he expected the outcome of the current situation to mean that evidence would increase in price, claiming that reprocessors were “struggling” at the moment.
With certain percentages of both metal and plastic needing to be recycled in an item of WEEE for an evidence note to be produced by a reprocessor, the recycler warned that “if they can't shift plastics then the evidence notes won't be issued”.
CA sites
But, the picture is less uniform with regards WEEE sorting and segregating activities that take place at civic amenity sites; due to the varied arrangements PCS have with sites' operators to collect WEEE.
While some schemes are believed to secure WEEE from CA sites by agreeing to pay them by the tonne for it, others have alternative arrangements which are not purely tied into tonnages.
As a result, one WEEE recycler told letsrecycle.com that while some sites have been hit by a drop in WEEE revenue, the impact would vary depending on the deal between the sites and PCS.
And, Mr Simpson explained that “Valpak has always taken a stance that we would not pay straight back to waste disposal authorities the revenues from heavy white goods,” but said that “others that went down a different route will now have to deal with that problem”.
He added that “if this system was to work under producer responsibility – that means movement happens in the good times and the bad times”.
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