A total of 120,433 tonnes of household WEE has been collected across the first quarter of 2023. This is a slight increase from Q1 2022, with 562 more tonnes collected in Q1 2023.
All categories are on track to meet this year’s target- overall there is 26% progress towards the targets, which is promising. The only exceptions are consumer equipment, monitoring and control instruments, automatic dispensers and cooling appliances – these are all falling slightly behind their expected collection rate.
If the collection rates continue to increase this year, we may see the targets being reached for the first time in six years.
Louisa Goodfellow, B2B Compliance Policy Advisor commented “It is positive to see collection figures tracking over 25% towards the annual target, which has not always been the case in previous years. The drop in collections at the tail end of 2022 were attributed to inflationary pressures and increased energy prices affecting transport and treatment costs. It’s also likely that cost of living pressures are affecting sales of consumer electrical items.
We hope the upcoming consultation – now due after the local election purdah period – seeks to address the issues in WEEE collections that has meant the compliance fee has had to be used for the last six consecutive year, and overall recycling figures consistently increase”.
If you have any questions about the Q1 2023 collection figures, please get in touch.