Government responds to WEEE consultation

Between December 2023 and March 2024, the Government ran a Consultation seeking views on proposed reforms to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations SI 2013/3113. The proposals aim to support a move towards a more circular economy.

The Consultation set out detailed proposals for reforms relating to the provision of collection and take-back infrastructure for household WEEE to be financed by the producers of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), also extending certain obligations to the producers of EEE that currently only apply to the distributors (such as retailers and online sellers).

It covered policy proposals on:

• increasing collections of WEEE from households;
• increasing distributor collections infrastructure;
• new producer obligations for online marketplaces and fulfilment houses;
• dealing with the environmental impacts of vaping products; and
• system governance, the creation of a WEEE Scheme Administrator and performance indicators.

Government response

The Government has now issued a response to the Consultation, after having received 320 responses to it. At the moment, the Government has confirmed it is still considering all of the proposals in the Consultation, and further evidence submitted will influence a more detailed response which is expected in 2025.

Despite the fact that no clear signal on the main policy proposals has been made in this consultation response, the Government has confirmed that:

• the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations SI 2013/3113 will be amended in order to require those producing vapes, vape related products that are sold separately and other e-cigarette style products to report the weight of products placed on the UK market. Amendments will be introduced in 2025 and a new WEEE category will be created for these products;
• further amendments to be introduced in 2025 will place new obligations on online market places so that they contribute to the cost of collection, treatment, re-use and recycling of WEEE. This will bring those retailers in line with other companies that are defined as producers currently. These obligations will apply to online marketplaces only where equipment is placed on the UK market by overseas based sellers and those marketplaces will have to join an approved WEEE compliance scheme.

The Government has also used this opportunity to commit to a circular economy approach. Whilst circular economy strategies exist in Scotland and Wales, and a draft strategy is being considered in Northern Ireland, the Government has confirmed that it will publish a circular economy strategy for England in 2025. To aid this, it has formed a multi-disciplinary Circular Economy Taskforce.

Plans for wider reforms reflecting strategic priorities in the move towards a circular economy will be published across the UK in 2025.

For more information on this subject, see:

• Summary of all of the responses to the consultation - available here.