Mandatory WEEE PBS option chosen by Defra

The PBS was originally set up as a voluntary system by a majority of compliance schemes to deal with requests from councils to collect WEEE. It was required in the scenario where a council was unable to arrange a collection with a compliance scheme, due to a costly collection location for example.

Not all compliance schemes opted to take part in the voluntary PBS, leading to Defra now making the scheme legally mandatory for all schemes to take part to ensure a level playing field.

The PBS option proposed by the WEEE Scheme Forum has been selected by Defra, and is effective immediately. This proposal is predominantly the same as the voluntary PBS and will continue to be overseen by environmental consultants Anthesis.

Compliance schemes can choose to either fulfil a request from a council or submit it to the PBS to be handled collectively. The cost of the collection is then shared amongst all schemes if none have chosen to bid to fulfil it directly.

Somewhat frustrating

Robbie Staniforth, head of policy commented “It is somewhat frustrating that it has taken such an extreme measure as a mandatory system for all producer compliance schemes to take responsibility for their members’ share of uncontracted WEEE generated at Local Authorities.”

“However, we believe Defra have made the right decision by inviting proposals and having a genuinely competitive process for choosing the PBS operator. We are pleased to have been part of the winning bid and look forward to continuing to ensure that waste is collected from recycling centres around the country.”

If you have a WEEE collection request, you can use our online booking form to arrange a collection.

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