REPIC celebrated the 15 year anniversary of the UK’s Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations on Saturday 10^th June by welcoming a team of five employees into York alongside the City’s Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress.

Joined by the rest of the producer compliance scheme’s employees and their families, the cyclists rode into York to push the combined total of miles cycled over the 500-mile mark since the 15 day, 15 locations and 15 great stories event started in the Scottish Highlands on Friday 2^nd June.

The event provided the opportunity to highlight the 3.7 million tonnes of WEEE that REPIC has recycled on behalf of its members since 2007, the team of 28 specialists that support its members with their WEEE, Batteries and Packaging compliance and wider sustainability requirements, in both UK and across and Europe, and the many research projects and collaborations in place to provide producers with a real voice in helping shape future legislation.

Celebrating 15 great stories along the route, and joining up a network of AATFs, Local Authority sites and repair and reuse initiatives, the REPIC WEEE Cycle Network event marks the 15 year anniversary of the UK’s WEEE regulations. The cyclists arriving in York are part of a team of cyclists travelling a total of 850 miles across 15 days, visiting 15 locations involved in the daily reuse, repair and recycling of waste electricals.

Day nine of the REPIC WEEE Cycle has seen the cyclists travel from Northallerton to York, a distance of over 40 miles, with day ten from York to Doncaster covering a distance of over 60 miles.

Louise Grantham, REPIC’s Chief Executive, welcomed the City of York’s Lord Mayor, Councillor Chris Cullwick and Lady Mayoress, Mrs Joy Cullwick to the special anniversary event held at the city’s Bedern Hall. The Civic Party was on hand to provide a warm welcome to the REPIC event riders as they completed stage nine of the 15 day REPIC WEEE Cycle event.

Commenting on the celebration, Louise Grantham, REPIC Chief Executive, added: “It’s good to take time to reflect on the last 15 years because the experience and knowledge gained can help inform the future.

 

“Both the WEEE sector and REPIC have had to adapt to manage the challenges and opportunities that have arisen so it’s great that we’ve been able to not only welcome the riders today but also bring our whole team together to mark what we have achieved collectively.

 

“I’m extremely proud of the specialist team we have built over the last 15 years and our reputation as market leaders.”

Founded by producers to ensure producers have a real say in the way REPIC is run, the producer compliance scheme is trusted by many of the UK’s respected household electrical brands to deliver cost effective compliance solutions and support them with their wider environmental compliance and sustainability objectives.

REPIC’s team of specialists help to simplify the complexity of compliance and provide producers with a real voice in helping to shape future legislation.

REPIC builds long-term partnerships to make a real difference to UK recycling.

Over the past 15 years, REPIC’s has taken part in important research projects, living out its vision to ‘be leading and shaping producer responsibility’:

Dynamic WEEE Model development with Lancaster University

REPIC funded a joint research project with researchers at the Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business, based at the University of Lancaster. The team analysed data on EEE and WEEE flows to help forecast future WEEE flows and help shape electronic waste recycling policy in the UK.

The Carbon Footprint of WEEE

This project investigated the carbon footprint of the REPIC’s WEEE collection activities, utilising a combined material flow analysis (MFA) and life cycle assessment (LCA).

ProSUM – Urban Mine project

The ProSUM project developed the very first EU-wide and open-access Urban Mine Platform. The dedicated web portal that was developed offered a comprehensive inventory identifying, quantifying and mapping critical raw materials (CRM) stocks and flows at national and regional levels across Europe.

Countering WEEE Illegal Trade (CWIT)

As a member of the WEEE Forum, REPIC’s involvement in the CWIT project allowed it to better understand how to account for the ‘parallel flows’ and what measures are most effective in countering illegal or sub-standard operations.

Electrical waste – challenges and opportunities research paper

Building on previous studies, including REPIC’s Dynamic WEEE Model, the objective of this research led by Anthesis was to develop an inventory of the different routes by which EEE and WEEE flow through the UK economy, to assist in future target setting and identify ways in which WEEE recycling can be maximised.

Understanding consumer behaviour

REPICs investment in annual consumer research continues to build valuable knowledge on consumer behaviour, motivations and attitudes and the variety of different electrical products in the home today.

‘Looking back to look forward’ report

As market leaders, to inform future policy REPIC has considered the last 15 years and provides a fresh and well-informed perspective on the influencing trends for EEE going onto the market and WEEE made available for collection.

Louise Grantham, concludes: “While change is nothing new to the WEEE sector, the speed, scale and impact of this – digitalisation, other new and innovative product technologies, consumer purchasing habits to name a few – have undeniably transformed the landscape over the last 15 years. Understanding the past is essential if we are to plan for delivering a more circular economy in the future.”

The REPIC WEEE Cycle Network event will conclude on Friday 16th June when the peloton of cyclists pulls into the 15th and final destination in Sittingbourne, Kent around midday. The cyclists will have completed 850 miles across 15 days and raised a total of £15k for local good causes along the way.