WIREDGOV

Two research projects fast-tracked to support UK recycling of waste electrical and electronic waste.

A major study which will test plastic from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) to ensure it can be safely recycled is one of two projects that has been fast-tracked for funding under the WEEE Compliance Fee.

[LONDON] 12 September 2018: Under the ICER-led study, over 25,000 samples of plastics from displays, large and small domestic appliances, power tools, fridges and printed circuit boards will be scanned and tested for persistent organic pollutants (POPs), and specifically bromine content indicative of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PDBEs), a group of brominated flame retardants, which while now no longer used in modern equipment, was used widely by industry in the past.

PBDEs were the first brominated persistent organic pollutants (POPs) listed in the Stockholm Convention because they are toxic, subject to long-range transport, degrade very slowly and persist in the environment. Their listing means that its manufacture, use or sale is prohibited.

Using a methodology agreed with Defra and the Environment Agency, the study will explore where these chemicals are and, if so, what type and in what quantities. The study will then assess options for separating out WEEE plastics found to contain POPs and identify sites where they can be safely destroyed.

The findings of the research, which is due to be concluded by February 2019, will be shared with Defra, the Environment Agency and industry to help inform policy, regulatory activity and business operations. The research is expected to cost between £446,000-£556,000.

“This initiative, made possible by the Compliance Fee, enables industry and government to work together to benefit all stakeholders,” said Claire Snow, Director of ICER recently.

“The POPs Regulation sets maximum concentration levels for POPs in waste materials, including WEEE plastic. The ICER-led project will gather robust data on which to assess UK compliance and identify downstream solutions for contaminated material. By carrying out this work collectively, costs to the WEEE industry will be minimised.”

The other fast-tracked project, led by the WEEE Schemes Forum (WSF), is a review of existing protocols in preparation for regulatory changes in January 2019 which will see more electrical and electronic equipment in scope of the WEEE Regulations.

The review of the existing protocols – the Mixed WEEE Protocol and the Large Domestic Appliances (LDA) Protocol – will ensure they remain representative of the composition of these streams. The work will be run in two phases; the first is already underway and will run until later in the autumn which will result in a proposal for revised protocols. The second phase, which will run for six months in 2019, will seek to refine Phase I results. The project is estimated to cost around £413,000.

Nigel Harvey, WSF chair recently said: “The current protocols, by which the UK measures the proportions of different categories of WEEE that are collected and recycled, were established nearly a decade ago. Significant changes in the equipment sold in the UK have occurred and, as a consequence, this may have affected the composition of WEEE arising.

The introduction of open scope from 2019 will have a profound effect on the WEEE regime, as additional products are brought within scope of the regulations. This review is therefore essential to ensure that producer responsibility costs are apportioned fairly as this change takes effect.

We welcome the provision of funding from the 2017 Compliance Fee, which has allowed this vital work to be undertaken. An external administrator, Katalyst Business Consulting, has been appointed to oversee the project.”

Susanne Baker, chair of the JTA recently said: “The significant sums of money accrued under the WEEE Compliance Fee in 2017 has meant that we are able to consider strategic projects and support for the UK WEEE System in a way we’ve not been able to in the past. The projects announced today are vital in supporting a sustainable and healthy WEEE recycling system in the UK, with more projects being considered in the coming weeks.”

More information on the WEEE Compliance Fee Fund 2017 is available at www.weeefund.uk

Notes to Editors

For more information please contact the techUK press office on press@techUK.org or 020 7331 2011.

The WEEE Compliance Fee Fund 2017

• £8 million is being made available to support environmental projects from money that was collected through the 2017 WEEE Compliance Fee mechanism. The fund is expected to be spent over the next three years on a range of activities, including technical research, communications, behaviour change activities and local projects.
• The compliance fee is a regulatory tool open to the Government to support the delivery of the UK Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations. If a Producer Compliance Scheme (PCS) misses their target, they have an option to pay a compliance fee for the tonnage shortfall. 
• The law requires that the compliance fee is set at a level that encourages compliance through collection. The fee therefore complements national targets by creating an additional financial incentive to collect WEEE, because by definition it must at least reflect the true cost of recycling WEEE.
• Each year, bodies are invited to submit proposals to run the Compliance Fee in any given year. For the 2017 compliance period, the JTA – a group of trade associations representing producers of electrical and electronic equipment – methodology was selected by the Secretary of State. The Compliance Fee is administered by Mazars LLP on behalf of JTAC, the registered company established by the JTA with the sole purpose of entering into contracts with third parties for services relating to the WEEE Compliance Fee. The current chair of the JTA is Susanne Baker from techUK.

​ICER

• ICER is the industry body that represents the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) sector. It is the forum for industry to work with Government and Regulators on WEEE issues and its members include equipment producers, producer compliance schemes, waste management companies, treatment facilities and recyclers.

The WEEE Schemes Forum

• The WEEE Scheme Forum is the UK’s trade association for WEEE Producer Compliance Schemes.  The WSF meets regularly with Defra and the environment agencies, and provides members PCSs with a means to respond collectively to issues raised by the regulations.  The WSF estimates that its members are responsible for over 90% of the WEEE collected in the UK.  The organisation was instrumental in establishing the PCS Balancing System (PBS) in 2016, with the support of Defra.