UK Agency Updates WEEE Regulations

The United Kingdom’s Department for Business has published updated regulations designed to improve the effectiveness of the UK’s system for collection and treatment of waste electrical and electronic equipment. The regulations are effective the beginning of next year.

“These amending Regulations will help streamline the WEEE system and ensure producer compliance schemes continue to take an active role in the environmentally sound disposal of unwanted equipment. The amending regulations also aim to reduce the administrative burdens placed on the treatment sector,” said Ian Lucas MP, Minister of Business. 

Under DTS Phase 2 distributors can still discharge their obligations by paying into the scheme which contributes finance towards WEEE collection facilities at civic amenity sites.

The amended Regulations, accompanying non-statutory guidance and the extension to the Distributor Take back Scheme follow a consultation launched last December.

Key revisions in the amended Regulations published today are the following:

1. Producer Compliance Scheme approval process – starting Jan. 1, 2010, any scheme applying for approval will be subject to open ended approval based on a rolling three-year operational plan which will be subject to an annual review and audit by the environment agencies.

2. Criteria for Authorized Treatment Facilities and exporters approval has been revised to include a requirement that the facility is able to meet the reprocessing targets contained in the Regulations and Directive.

3. Streamlining of the Evidence process –AATF or AE will now issue evidence on the tonnage of WEEE received. This will help to speed the flow of evidence through the system and ease cash flow issues for AATF and AEs.

4.  Data reporting – changes have been made to the requirements for PCSs, AATF’s and AEs to ease administration burdens and provide the agencies with more focused and relevant data.

 Key features of the DTS Phase 2 are:

1. Scheme to operate from Jan. 1, 2010 to Dec. 31, 2012.

2. Membership fees charged to distributors proportionate to their total market share of all EEE retailing.

3. Assuming current membership levels of around 75 percent of the UK EEE market, a fund of about £2m (which could rise to a maximum of £4.7m in event of 100 percent uptake by electrical retailer sector) for dissemination to local authorities as a contribution towards maintenance of designated WEEE collection facilities at civic amenity sites and projects designed to drive up collection rates.

4. A separate New Investment Fund of about £1.5m to support establishment of new/replacement designated collection facilities at civic amenity sites or to add additional WEEE waste streams to existing sites