Carl Kruger, Project Director of B2B Compliance questions the Environment Agency guidance on when equipment is viewed as waste. “The Guidance, issued in March of this year, clearly states that a householder who donates an item, that doesn’t work but is not obviously beyond repair, to a charity or community refurbishment workshop, then that item is not WEEE – the inference being that such refurbishment activities cannot, therefore, be financially supported under Producer Responsibility. The implication of this is that a sector that could create jobs, protect the environment, generate income and supply low cost goods to low income families is being denied financial support and yet, if the householder in question drives past the community store and takes the item to the local authority recycling centre, the Producer is then obliged to pay for recycling! The second issue is that, as these items donated to refurbishers are not being recorded as WEEE, the tonnages will not be counted towards the new targets – unless, of course, the refurbisher goes down to the local authority recycling centre and ‘rescues’ the WEEE in order to refurbish it”.