The Environment Agency have this month begun to formally approve the first batch of producer compliance schemes under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations SI 2006/3289. This comes after they were forced to refute claims made earlier in January by one such scheme that they had already been formally approved and that producers could now register with them. Producer compliance schemes are the organisations that will help manufacturers of electrical appliances deal with their new producer responsibility obligations which come into force in July this year. There are expected to be at least 13 schemes set up to assist the thousands of producer companies in the UK deal with obligations to fund the collection and recycling of waste equipment.
The B2BWEEE scheme run by consultancy firm Environ is the first to be formally approved by the Agency and they are now seeking producers to register as members. Producers of electrical equipment in the UK have until 15 March 2007 to register with an approved compliance scheme.
A full list of compliance schemes approved by the Agency and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) will be published on their websites.
