Data published by the Environment Agency reveals that 119,871 tonnes of waste electrical collections were made by compliance schemes in the first quarter of 2022, showing a 684-tonne reduction in collections from the same time last year.
Although it is still early in the compliance year, the failure of compliance schemes to meet collection targets for WEEE over the past five years might indicate that targets will be missed again in 2022.
A lag in collections caused by the after effects of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021 should have been remedied by the recent opening of Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC’s) but as it stands, only display equipment (category 11) and automatic dispensers (category 10) are on track to meet the target.
We have seen steady amounts of EEE being placed on the market over the last few years, which could be one of several reasons why there is a plateau in collections. Another possible factor could be that fewer households are disposing of their waste electricals at dedicated collection points.
Moving forward
Given the current backdrop, we expect the WEEE consultation this summer to focus on household and business-to-business collections, and producer funding of kerbside collections and take-back obligations for online marketplaces as possible suggestions to move forward.
If you have any questions about the Q1 2022 WEEE data, please get in touch with us.