The UK’s new collection targets for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) from households for 2017 have been confirmed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
The overall UK target is 622,033 tonnes, up 40,617 tonnes on what was collected in 2016 but down from the previously proposed target of 633,643 tonnes.
Managing Director of Wiser Recycling, Russell Hirst says: “It’s disappointing to see that the targets aren’t higher, particularly those for display screens. Compliance schemes are meeting the targets really easily from local authority collections. This puts pressure on local authorities who lack confidence in the collection services and have to divert through a balancing system, and means schemes do not need to financially support alternative collections such as those from charities and communities in which Wiser specialises. Inevitably this means that our community collections will remain on hold.”
The target is below the EU target of 775,8621 tonnes for the UK for 2017 but DEFRA expects the shortfall to be made up from other sources.
DEFRA’s WEEE targets have also been criticised by the Environmental Services Association (ESA).