Reports for the amount of EEE placed on the market and WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) collected in the UK under the WEEE Regulations was published by the Environment Agency today (1st June 2021) for quarter one of 2021.
Louise Grantham, chief executive of producer-led WEEE compliance scheme, REPIC, comments:
“Collections for the first quarter of 2021 are 11% lower than the same period in 2020, largely due to the impact the national lockdowns had on local authority HWRC collections. In addition, the introduction of mandatory in-store takeback of small WEEE was delayed due to most shops being closed. Despite this, overall, collections were 24% of the total annual household WEEE collection target, with Display equipment collections (26%) being ahead of the pro-rata target. Small Mixed WEEE and Lamp collections were most significantly affected, at 21% of the annual target. The majority of the WEEE (58%) was collected through local authority HWRCs, which is consistent with last year, with retail take back remaining the predominant source of Large Household Appliance collections. We had feared the position against target would be worse than this, due to collections in January and February being significantly affected by the lockdown, however collections recovered somewhat in March.
“Overall there has been a 20% growth in EEE POM for the first quarter of 2021 relative to 2020. This is most likely due to increased consumer expenditure on home entertainment and other home related products during the lockdown period – there were notable increases in the Toys, Sport and Leisure and Electronic Tools categories when compared to the previous year.
“It is still early to assess the impact the pandemic will have on WEEE collections and EEE POM in the remainder of the year, we will have a much clearer picture when the quarter two data becomes available.”
