The government is now actively considering a range of short-term changes to the operation of the WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) Regulations, following a review of the ‘red tape’ that affects businesses – which identified that dealing with WEEE may be the cause of excessive costs to businesses.

In April 2011, the coalition government announced a policy of reviewing the regulatory burdens on businesses, termed the ‘Red Tape Challenge’. The objective was to encourage businesses to propose regulatory changes that would remove or change unnecessary legal requirements. In September 2011 Caroline Spelman, Secretary of State for Defra, announced that the ‘environmental theme’ of the challenge would include all waste legislation. The call for responses was launched by Robert Hunt, Executive Director of Veolia, and was open to receive comments from any interested parties for a three-week period.

Responses were considered by the government and the outcome was announced in March 2012. In her response, the Secretary of State announced that the department of Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) would consult on some short- and long-term measures aimed at reducing the costs associated with WEEE compliance. BIS has already invited a range of stakeholders to propose short-term solutions to reduce the costs to businesses and they are now considering the options, but have not yet reached any conclusions.

At the same time, BIS has also announced a more formal ‘call for evidence’. This is aimed at producers with responsibilities under the WEEE Regulations, WEEE producer compliance schemes (PCSs), and WEEE recyclers. The intention appears to be to attempt to track the costs associated with WEEE at each stage of the chain, from producers, through PCSs, and on to recyclers. The request is for information regarding the costs actually incurred by all three groups. On that basis, it may be possible for BIS to identify if excessive charging takes place, and if so, the possible causes. This, in turn, should allow BIS to re-evaluate the operation of the regulations, to ensure that they act in the most appropriate way.

The call for evidence closes on 23 July 2012, and all three groups have been encouraged to respond. Details can be found on the BIS website at: www.bis.gov.uk/consultations

The call for evidence is taking place against the backdrop of the recast of the WEEE Directive. The final version of the text was agreed by the Council of Ministers at the end of May 2012, and at the time of writing, is expected to be published in the Official Journal of the European Union soon. The government will then have a little over 18 months to transpose the new directive into national regulations. The recast directive incorporates a number of changes, particularly in the much higher collection targets that member states will be required to meet. Currently the UK is ahead of the game and comfortably exceeds the existing annual collection target of four kilogrammes of WEEE per head of the population. From 2016, the target rises to 45 per cent of the average tonnage of EEE put on the market over the previous three years. In 2019, it moves up to 65 per cent. The changes mean that the government will be required to legislate to implement the new directive. As a result, the current review of the operation of the existing WEEE regulations is logical at this time – given that the government will need to update the legislation in time for 2014. The new regulations can therefore embrace both the output of the BIS review and the requirements of the new directive.

It remains to be seen how the government will change WEEE. They are clearly taking a careful, and analytical approach in their review. That must bode well for an appropriate outcome.