Producers are to take responsibility for the collection and recovery of electronic equipment they place on the market once new legislation comes into force next year. Some producers will choose to deal with their responsibility themselves, but many will join compliance schemes to take care of their obligations.
Wastelink launched Electrolink at the company's Annual General Meeting yesterday, offering its “pre-compliance” service to any WEEE producer at a charge of 295 a year. Once the legislation comes in Electrolink will work out the costs that each producer will need to fund to cover their compliance. The waste services company has said that about 100 of its existing members produce WEEE, they will be able to join the scheme free of charge.
Wastelink describes the scheme as a “total contract managing all of your obligations for WEEE.” It has kept a communication programme with its members, plus many non-members, over the last two years.
Until the WEEE legislations is finalised by the government, Wastelink has said that it will not be announcing the full details of its scheme. But it will be running seminars and working groups during the pre-compliance stage of the process.
Peter Gaffney, director of environmental services for the Wastelink group, said: “Once pre-compliance becomes full compliance we will offer a totally integrated package for our producers including the development of possible solutions, logistics and operational work and assurance that legal obligations are met.”
Wastelink have also been setting up a network of contractors to carry out the collection and treatment of WEEE once the compliance scheme begins to take responsibility for its producers.
Mr Gaffney said that Wastelink has been looking into how materials would be collected in advance of the WEEE legislation coming in to force.
He explained: “Much of the material has never been collected before. Only the bulky items and IT software has been picked up in the past, items like hairdryers are an unknown quantity. We do not know the value of items such as hair dryers, they could have a negative value when collected, treated and recycled.”
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