WeeeCare awarded Hampshire WEEE contract

Under the contract,theproducer compliance schemewill be responsible for treating all of the WEEE arising from the 26 household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) across Hampshire, increasing WeeeCares collection network to 60 sites across the country.

WeeeCare is a subsidiary of Leeds waste and recycling company WasteCare, and has one of the highest memberships of UK producer compliance schemes. Set up in 2007, WeeeCare now has over 1,200 members including the retailers Morrisons and Aldi, and car manufacturer Honda.

It is thought that the Hampshire deal will see WeeeCare treat in excess of 7,500 tonnes of WEEE each yearover the life of the contract, including mobile phones and other small WEEE goods as well as bulky WEEE items such as fridges, freezers, televisions and computer monitors. Once collected WEEE will be recycled by WasteCare and its partners, including metal recycling firm Sims.

Contract

WeeeCare already has similar arrangements in place to process e-waste for Telford & Wrekin, Bradford and Devon councils. It takes over the Hampshire contract from compliance scheme European Recycling Platform (ERP), which was awarded the work in August 2007 (see letsrecycle.com story).

WeeCares compliance director Graeme Parkin, said: We are very happy to have won this contract with Hampshire county council and we look forward to providing a high quality WEEE collection, processing and recycling package going forward.

Councillor Mel Kendal, Hampshire county councils executive member for environment and transport, said: We went through a strict tendering process to find the most suitable partner to deal with the countys electrical waste. We are pleased to be working with WeeeCare as their processes and commitment to responsible recycling match our own aspirations to ensure as much household waste as possible is recycled or reused. We strive to constantly improve the services that we provide to Hampshire residents, and the service provided by WeeeCare will help us to do this.

Hampshire county council has a population of over one million people, and according to recent figures diverts around 90% of its waste away from landfill, compared to 20% in 2000/01.