Government insists it is ready for WEEE

Environment Agency claims "major producers" are signed up to WEEE compliance schemes ahead of July deadline

With less than a month to go until the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive comes into full effect, the Environment Agency has revealed that it is confident that the major producers, resellers and importers of IT kit are now signed up with approved compliance schemes for collecting and recycling e-waste.

Recycling experts had previously voiced concerns that many of the producers that were obliged to sign up to and fund recycling schemes under the "polluter pays" principle were still unaware of the legislation and were in danger of breaching the new law. Their concerns were validated by a survey late last year from law firm Eversheds that revealed over 40 percent of manufacturers and retailers affected by the new law were unaware of their WEEE obligations.

However, head of waste at the Environment Agency Liz Parkes insisted in a statement yesterday that despite a "challenging timetable", initial data from registered producers obligated to comply with WEEE "indicates the major companies are signed up".

Environment Agency figures show that companies accounting for 1.4 million tons of household WEEE and representing the majority of electrical equipment on the market are signed up to compliance schemes. Although the body is still working on figures for the business market, a spokesman insisted that the compliance scheme sign up rate for business-to-business producers was at a " similarly encouraging level".

Parkes also insisted that while some smaller businesses still had not registered with approved recycling schemes, the Environment Agency was working to encourage them to comply with the new regulation.

"Our overall priority for 2007 is to ensure those affected by the change in the law are aware of their responsibility under the new regulations," Parkes said. "In the first compliance period, which runs from July to December 2007, we want to help make sure businesses are complying with the new rules. However, if we find a business has deliberately flouted the rules, we will take action."

Jon Godfrey of IT disposal services firm Lifecycle Services said that the Environment Agency had make good progress, adding that the company had been contacted recently by several smaller manufacturers who had been contacted by the Agency and told they had to sign up.

However, Godfrey argued that the suggestion the government would initially take a relaxed approach to those firms that inadvertently fail to comply with the new regulation could undermine its effectiveness. "If you start off with a gentle, toothless implementation then you have to back it up with high-profile prosecutions at some point otherwise the law becomes worthless," he said. "In some ways the suggestion that initially there won't be many prosecutions is almost as bad as another delay to WEEE."

Godfrey also voiced concern that while the Environment Agency is making progress ensuring producers are compliant, it is less clear if it is on track to ensure all waste handling companies are compliant with the new laws. "The Environment Agency has said there are just a few hundred WEEE management sites it needs to audit, but our research suggests there are up to 4,000 sites handling WEEE that are affected by the legislation," he said. "Either our research is completely wrong or there are a lot of sites that are just not on the Environment Agency's radar."