Last week the Government began their 8 week consultation period for the long awaited recast WEEE Regulations. In response, WeeeCare Plc have arranged two conferences in early June for members and have invited delegates to understand the implications of the proposed options and to assist producers, retailers and other stakeholders to respond to the Government’s invitation for constructive feedback.

The key objectives of Government are to;

1. Implement the European WEEE Recast Directive with minimal impact for the UK
2. To minimise cost for producers
3. To reduce the administration and bureaucracy

It is estimated the current WEEE Regulations are costing producers and eventually consumers over £65 million a year. Britain is currently operating one of the highest cost compliance systems in Europe. This cost cannot be tackled without a major change to evidence trading. The Department of business Innovation and Skills (BIS) has put forward 4 options;

1. Do nothing
2. Introduce a single national compliance scheme
3. Introduce a fixed collection target and compliance fee
4. Establish a matching process of collection sites to Producer Compliance schemes

With a total of 228 pages of discussion papers and supporting documentation, there is a lot to consider and little time to do it. The consultation period ends on 21st June 2013 and we can expect the final draft legislation to be published by October and in force from next January. It is unlikely there will be opportunity to amend the new Regulations again until 2019 at the earliest.

The major change to the European Directive is a fixed recycling target of 45% of EEE placed on the market, rising to possibly 85% by 2019. This will bring its own challenges. “What producers need is a low cost and transparent system that encourages recycling without the unnecessary burden that we have suffered over recent years.” explained Peter Hunt, MD of the WasteCare Group. He continued “There is no reason why Britain cannot be the lowest cost and most efficient recycler in Europe. In current market conditions we should be aiming at a neutral cost of compliance across the whole sector. The Government have given all stakeholders a valuable opportunity to speak now to ensure we get the best solution for the WEEE2 challenge.”

WeeeCare are holding two WEEE2 conferences in early June to help scheme members and invited delegates to understand the implications of the changes and have the opportunity to share their thoughts and present proposals to BIS.

The two conferences are;

Click here for further details.