What is the WEEE compliance fee?
A B2C producer is obligated to finance via their scheme the recovery and treatment of enough WEEE to meet annual targets that are set by the government. The amount that a producer needs to fund is proportionate to their market share, and evidence of this WEEE recycling needs to be provided to the Environment Agency. A WEEE compliance scheme takes on the responsibility for sourcing that recycling evidence on behalf of its members, and by ensuring enough WEEE recycling is taking place.
With that in mind, the WEEE compliance fee is a mechanism whereby a compliance scheme who is unable to meet its evidence obligations can pay a fee to ‘top-up’ their evidence. This mechanism is designed to support under-collecting schemes who cannot fulfil their obligations, by providing an alternative and it prevents scrabbling to collect every last bit of WEEE.
However, if a compliance scheme does choose to apply to take on the compliance fee, the actual amount of the fee is not known until the application has been approved – so by being an ‘unknown’, there is an incentive for schemes to meet their obligations, encouraging innovation in the very systems that are in place to recover and recycle WEEE.
Why did we choose to not use the WEEE compliance fee this year?
B2B Compliance fully support the existence of the WEEE compliance fee, as we believe it is a legitimate way for schemes to comply, as well as keeping the cost of compliance in check. We believe the Compliance Fee is a fall back rather than a strategic business plan, to meet member compliance, so should be utilised as a top-up to small end of year imbalances in WEEE collection systems operated by a scheme.
B2B Compliance was able to carry out enough WEEE recycling to meet the total obligations of our members’ market shares. We have done this by investing in and establishing a strong network of partners in the recycling industry, and by being able to run a collections service to take back WEEE from our members and their end users. By facilitating and encouraging WEEE to be collected and treated properly, we are able to increase the total amount of WEEE that is being recycling, thus being able to meet our obligations without additional costs bought about by utilising the Compliance fee.
Why is this a good thing for our members?
By not using the compliance fee, B2B Compliance is demonstrating that we are an efficient scheme with good systems in place to ensure that a suitable amount of WEEE recycling is taking place. This also ensures that our members’ costs of compliance are kept to a minimum.
To help us with ensuring enough WEEE is being recycled, please consider using our collections service for any WEEE that you have, or if your customers contact you to take back your WEEE. Please contact our Collections team on collections@b2bcompliance.org.uk or 0845 680 9829.