The compliance period for the 2015 year under the WEEE system closed at the end of January.

Compliance schemes working under the remit of the WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations) had until January 31 to ensure they had enough evidence. With the Department for Business (BIS) having confirmed that it will be setting a WEEE compliance fee for 2015, details of the fee level which are to be announced shortly will be examined closely by compliance schemes. The fee is a potential option for some to use if they have not met compliance through buying recycling evidence, subject to a number of factors.

The changes to the law have effectively removed a market that previously existed for the trading of WEEE ‘evidence’ between compliance schemes, which it was claimed had led to inflated costs under the pre-2014 system.  However, the converse view is that the compliance fee approach means a compliance scheme might choose not to buy evidence for various reasons and consequently conform, possibly at a lower cost, through using the compliance fee route.

In a written statement to compliance schemes in January, a BIS official said: “Following the consultation held last autumn I am writing to inform you that the Government has decided to approve a compliance fee methodology and administrator for the 2015 WEEE compliance period as provided under the 2013 WEEE Regulations. Three proposals were received.”  This will represent the second year in a row that the government has opted to choose a compliance fee methodology, following changes to the WEEE Regulations in 2013

Commenting on the three proposals, Dr Richard Peagam, a senior consultant at Anthesis Group, said: “The compliance fee needs to strike the balance between its role as a “safety valve” for the compliance market, while not being a disincentive to collection for producer responsibility.