Call for producers to cover cost of collecting dumped gadgets
Producers (anyone who manufactures, imports or re-sells electrical or electronic equipment under their own brand) should pay for the kerbside collection of small unwanted electrical appliances to reduce the thousands of tonnes of gadgets ending up in landfill each year, council leaders have said.
Last year just 14 per cent of the 145,000 tonnes of small household appliances which were sold in the UK was collected for recycling, significantly below the 65 per cent proposed by the European Commission. Fines of up to €350,000 for every day of failed compliance can be meted out to countries which fail to meet their recycling targets.
The Local Government Association believes that kerbside collections, where locally appropriate, could help the UK meet its targets by making it easier for consumers to discard electronics responsibly.
Under current EU rules, producers are obliged to cover the cost of recycling discarded electronic equipment but they do not have to pick up the tab for collecting it from households. Instead, consumers can return unwanted gadgets to special collection depots.
Today, Members of the European Parliament are due to vote on the revised Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive. As it stands, the Directive will only make it necessary for national governments to “encourage” producers to meet the cost of separate household collection. The LGA wants that beefed up to become a mandatory obligation, so that producers are made to pay for separate kerbside collections for small recyclable electronic items like old toasters and electric toothbrushes, which people often throw in the bin.
Cllr Gary Porter, chairman of the LGA Environment Board said: “Far too many easy to recycle gadgets and toys are ending up in landfill, polluting the environment and costing councils millions in dumping fees.
“Under EU law, producers have to meet the cost of recycling waste electrical goods deposited at special collection points. While retailers in the UK do support the costs of operating a collection network, only a fraction of the small appliances discarded each year are recycled. We think producers have a responsibility to do more. We want EU laws beefed up to ensure that councils which want to offer household collection of small waste electronics can reclaim the cost from the producers who profit from them.
“A number of local authorities would like to make it easier for people to dispose of their unwanted electrical goods responsibly, but with council budgets being cut many cannot afford to offer separate household collection. Producer-funded kerbside collection would benefit both the environment and councils’ bottom lines.”
