Our national network means that we have the capacity to reliably and efficiently manage collections from household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) and designated collection facilities (DCFs) across the country.
We work only with service providers that meet our strict criteria for environmental performance. We also strive to make continuous improvements to your collections service through monitoring and regular review meetings. Your authority can be confident of the highest standards in the collection, processing and treatment of waste.
To keep you up-to-date on the latest compliance developments, we provide local authority partners with regular training sessions, updates, and briefings on legislative and management requirements.
If you’d like to work with REPIC to manage the collection and treatment of WEEE or waste batteries from your authority’s HWRCs or DCFs, please contact one of our regional managers or click here
Designated collection facilities (DCF) run by local authorities must adhere to a strict Code of Practice for the handling of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) to maximise reuse and recycling. It governs the minimum requirements that must be met in an arrangement between DCFs and producer compliance schemes (PCS). The code applies to operators of approved DCFs, and following it is a condition of DCF approval.
As a DCF operator, you must aim to maximise separate collection of WEEE, provide sufficient capacity to collect the five waste streams listed below and manage the WEEE as waste.
Suitable and appropriate information and signage must be provided to the public. If you have a relationship with a PCS, they will finance the cost of clearance and treatment of WEEE collected from your DCF. You must grant free access to your PCS to collect WEEE you have on site – unless you have approval from Defra to retain specific streams.
Where you are unable to secure a contract with a PCS for the collection and treatment of WEEE collected at your DCF Regulation 34 of the WEEE Regulations allows you to contact any PCS operator to request a free of charge service. To submit such a request, access our form here.
DCFs must also take steps to prevent mixing of WEEE with non-WEEE waste and minimise the risk of contamination for separately collected WEEE. WEEE streams can be contaminated in a variety of different ways. For example, cooling equipment can be contaminated with food, display equipment with cardboard and many different streams with plastic bags.
As a local authority operating a designated collection facility (DCF), you must also work with your producer compliance scheme (PCS) to prioritise the separate collection of suitable appliances for treatment for reuse.
DCF and PCS must take measures to ensure items go to legitimate reuse organisations able to:
To contact an approved authorised treatment facility for collection or remove any WEEE from your site, you must first get approval from your PCS.
The five WEEE collection streams are:
For large household appliances and cooling equipment, you must provide space for containers or an impermeable surface for collection. For cooling equipment, display equipment and lamps, DCFs must have space for containers of a suitable type and size.
The full code of practice for the collection of WEEE from DCFs can be accessed and downloaded from the gov.uk website.
Local authorities do not have obligations under the Batteries Regulations. However, waste batteries are collected at many Household Waste Recycling Centre sites (HWRCs), and you can deliver any waste batteries you collect into a collection network set up by a PCS for free of charge treatment.
Alternatively, you must ensure that waste batteries you collect go to an approved battery treatment operator (ABTO) or an approved battery exporter (ABE) for treatment and recycling.
If you’d like to work with REPIC to arrange collection and treatment of batteries from your HWRC, get in touch via the enquiry form.
While local authorities are involved in the management of packaging waste as part of normal waste operations, they do not have obligations under the Packaging Regulations.
If you have PRNs to sell, please get in touch via the enquiry form
Local authority-operated designated collection facilities (DCF) must follow guidance from the environmental regulator on the collection of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). The gov.uk website offers full guidance on local authority obligations under producer responsibility regulations, which can be accessed here.
REPIC provides its local authority partners with further guidance notes on their obligations, as well as regular training and workshop sessions on the latest regulatory updates. Get in touch to find out how REPIC can help your local authority manage the collection and treatment of WEEE and batteries.
If you operate a local authority designated collection facility (DCF) and you are unable to secure a contract with a producer compliance scheme to collect WEEE deposited at your DCF you may submit a request to any PCS for this to be collected and treated free of charge. To submit a Regulation 34 request for the clearance of WEEE from a DCF, please complete the form below.
The energy and passion of the next generation is essential in driving progress towards a more circular economy – a world without waste. At REPIC, we’re proud to sponsor the LARAC Scholars programme, which helps to support and nurture the bright young minds of local authority recycling teams.
REPIC’s sponsorship funds the accommodation, travel and attendance of each year’s cohort of LARAC Scholars to attend a variety of events. From the prestigious LARAC Conference to on-the-ground treatment plant visits, the programme offers scholars the opportunity to get involved in the wider world of recycling.
Events
LARAC Conference 2021
When: 6 -7 October 2021
Where: Hilton Metropole, Birmingham (near NEC)
What: The annual LARAC Conference brings together local authority waste and recycling officers for two days filled with expert presentations, hands-on workshops and networking.
The LARAC Scholarship Programme is now open, please click here for registration details.
If the business disposing of WEEE is not buying new equipment and purchased the old equipment before 13 August 2005, they are obligated to dispose of the WEEE. If purchasing replacement equipment, we recommend the business contact their equipment retailer, who may either accept it for disposal or be able to take away the old unit for refurbishment and reuse.
The WEEE Code of Practice stipulates that only complete appliances must be presented at an approved authorised treatment facility (AATF). This means site operators must not remove anything from WEEE appliances. However, site risk assessments may highlight the risk of slips or trips due to loose cables on WEEE. In this case, cables may be removed but must be kept and sent to the treatment facility with the rest of the appliance.
Full compaction of WEEE is not permitted. However, skips may be pressed (tamped down) to minimise the environmental impact of low weight container fills requiring more road miles. Environmental regulators will permit skips being tamped down where the WEEE is pressured to fill void spaces but not broken, split, punctured or squashed. The tamping must not hinder the full and proper WEEE treatment later in the process.
The WEEE Code of Practice stipulates that waste data flow information should be provided to the site operators each month. REPIC provides data to operators by the 10th working day of the month.
REPIC has always been supportive of WEEE reuse where it can be done with high levels of transparency and community benefit. In operational terms, this normally requires access to designated collection facilities (DCF) by the site operator or REPIC-approved reuse operator to select items considered viable for reuse.
This movement of WEEE needs to be logged in DCF records by all parties. The reuse facility is required to demonstrate testing and commit to high levels of quality assurance. Once the items have passed the testing and quality assurance process, evidence notes can be raised to demonstrate compliance with the WEEE regulations for both REPIC and the local authority.
If your authority partners with any local reuse community groups, we are happy to work with you to jointly assess their capabilities to meet the requirements of the WEEE regulations.
Gas bottles pose a serious hazard if they arise at WEEE treatment operations, and can cause an explosion if not identified and separated. It is important that local authority sites take steps to ensure gas bottles are kept out of WEEE containers to prevent serious harm at WEEE treatment facilities.
Mobility scooters do not fall under the WEEE regulations and are instead covered by end-of-life vehicle (ELV) regulations. However, while mobility scooters are a consumer item, we would not expect them to come from a household. As such the disposal is typically from a business/charity which would have its own arrangements for disposal.
Please fill out the form below to register your interest in the report. We will email you a link to access the report as soon as it’s available.
Please fill out the form below to register your interest in the report. We will email you a link to access the report as soon as it’s available.
