£3.5 million has been allocated by the WEEE Fund to boost funding for two key aspects of collecting small WEEE across the UK, kerbside and reuse. The fund seeks to address the problem of small WEEE often ending up in general waste.
The WEEE Fund distributes money collected through the WEEE compliance fee, a regulatory tool open to the Government to support the delivery of the UK Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations. If a Compliance Scheme misses their annual collection 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 it must at least reflect the true cost of recycling WEEE. Since 2017 the compliance fee has raised over £10 million.
Fund applications are now open
The newly announced kerbside collection investment fund is available to any UK waste collection authority to roll-out and or expand kerbside collection, with up to £3 million allocated from 2020 through to 2022. Applications are now open with a closing date of 25 October 2019.
A smaller £0.5 million fund is also available to support UK registered reuse organisations to build capacity and help expand their small electrical waste collection network and upgrade their re-use, testing and repair operations. The closing date for applications for the first round is 18 October 2019.
Scott Butler, WEEE Fund Manager, said: “We are working with a range of key partners including Local Authorities, business, and community groups to deliver projects to encourage recycling and re-use of small waste electricals. Our 4-pronged approach to increasing recycling includes: increased collection methods, reuse investment grants, and communications and behaviour change.”
“Our new kerbside and re-use collection investment funds, will open up more and easier ways for people to recycle their small electrical household waste. These, together with communications and behaviour change projects, will deliver the buy-in and engagement that is essential for ongoing success.”
Please click here for more information about how to apply to the new fund.