HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
WASTE MANAGEMENT PANEL
THURSDAY 14SEPTEMBER 2006 AT 2.00 P.M.
WEEE CONSULTATION (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment)
Report of theDirector of Environment
Author: Ray Greenall, Head of Waste Management Tel: 01992 556160
Executive Member:- Derrick Ashley
- Purpose of report
Toinform the Panel of the final Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) consultation on the Government’s proposals for the draft legislation to implement the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive.
- Summary
2.1The WEEE Directive is one of a small number of European Directives which implement the principle of ‘extended producer responsibility’. Under this principle, producers are required to take responsibility for the environmental impact of their products, especially when they become waste. The WEEE Directive applies this in relation to electrical and electronic equipment (EEE).
2.2The broad aim of the WEEE Directive is to address the environmental impacts of WEEE and to encourage its separate collection and subsequent treatment, reuse, recovery, recycling and environmentally sound disposal.
2.3The Directive seeks to improve the environmental performance of all operators involved in the lifecycle of EEE especially those dealing with WEEE. Accordingly it sets certain requirements relating to the separate collection of WEEE, standards of its treatment at permitted facilities, and sets targets for its recycling and recovery.
- Conclusion
3.1The consultation seeks the views of businesses, manufacturers, retailers, producers and enforcement authorities. It would seem that the views of local authorities as WDAs are not being sought.
4.Background
4.1Under the WEEE Directive:
- Distributors (persons who provide EEE on a commercial basis to the party who is going to use it) have an obligation to give consumers (non-business end-users of EEE) the opportunity to return WEEE,free of charge, when they purchase new equipment of a similar kind;
- Producers are responsible for funding the collection, treatment, recovery and recycling of a share of household WEEE delivered to authorized treatment facilities in line with their market share (i.e. the amount of EEE they place on the UK market in any compliance period.
4.2A key feature of the Government’s intended approach to compliance with the WEEE Directive is the proposed provision of a network of Designated Collection Facilities (DCFs) where persons resident in the area may deposit their EEE free of charge. It is evident that the Government sees the existing national network of civic amenity sites (known as Household Waste Recycling Centres in Hertfordshire) as the most suitable means of providing the DCF network. The consultation document addresses the proposed collection arrangements in its Appendix B - Code of Practice for collection of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment from Designated Collection Facilities.
5.Analysis
5.1The Government should have implemented the WEEE Directive in August 2005 and, therefore, this third and final consultation is long overdue. It is also evidence of the difficulties that the Government is encountering in trying to find a way of implementing a suitable scheme.
5.2The key proposals outlined in the consultation document are:
- A national Distributor Takeback Scheme which will establish a network of DCFs;
- Obligatory registration for producers through approved compliance schemes;
- A Code of Practice covering the collection of WEEE from DCFs;
- Authorised Treatment Facilities (ATFs), which will process WEEE and provide evidence to producers on the amount of WEEE received for treatment;
- Accredited reprocessing facilities which will provide evidence of reprocessing to producers;
- An end-of-year settlement to ensure producers are able to meet their obligations via an ‘Exchange’ system;
- A voluntary approach for producers to show the cost of handling historic WEEE.
5.3The consultation documents asks 10 specific questions, none of which are aimed at local authorities. The questions are directly aimed at businesses, manufacturers, retailers, producers and enforcement agencies.
6.Recommendations
6.1The means by which the WEEE Directive is implemented in the UK is clearly of significant importance to Hertfordshire County Council as a Waste Disposal Authority. On the face of it, the proposals in the consultation paper make sense but, as with most things of this nature, the ‘devil will be in the detail’.
6.2If successful, the proposals should realise genuine benefits for the County Council in that the costs of dealing with WEEE will be met by its producers. This assumes, however, that all the costs of establishing the County Council’s HWRCs as DCFs are met and that an appropriate standard of collection service is provided.
6.3Given that the specific questions posed in the consultation document are not directed at local authorities, it is recommended that Hertfordshire County Council does not submit a detailed response. It is, however, recommended that a general response be submitted, reminding the Government to keep in mind the potential implications of any future legislation on WDAs. This response to be prepared by the Head of Waste Management and agreed with the Executive Member for Planning, Partnerships and Waste.
7.Financial Implications
7.1There are no financial implications relating to the consultation paper itself, but the resulting legislation is bring with it significant financial implications for Hertfordshire County Council as a Waste Disposal Authority.
Background Papers
The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive (2002/96/EC)
The WEEE Consultation Parts I, II & III – July 2006
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