More than four months after the first compliance period ended, the Environment Authority (EA) has still to publish the final weights of WEEE collected in the UK.
This information is needed so that compliance schemes can advise producers on their evidence requirements for 2007 and the cost of their individual responsibility. There is a major muddle over the relevant data.
One compliance scheme has overstated its collections by a factor of 1,000, while SEPA had previously understated the volume collected in Scotland – affecting the cost to all other schemes by more than 17 per cent.
As a result, the EA has extended the deadline for compliance schemes to report their final figures from the end of January until the end of April, triggering a cash-flow crisis across the country as those companies handling waste from civic amenity sites have been unable to get paid since last July. Fortunately, WeeeCare members need not worry.
Firstly, WeeeCare has balanced its members’ need for evidence with physical recycling of WEEE and, secondly, has introduced underwritten fees so all members can lock in the cost and remove any exposure to market swings.