Following Sims Recycling Solutions’ announcement last week that it plans to withdrawal from the WEEE market, there is now a concern in the sector over whether the UK will be able to meet WEEE collection targets.
The recycling firm has decided to offload areas of its “loss-making” assets, a large part being the WEEE recycling operations run by the company. This is after claiming that it has become “commercially unattractive” due to a changing market and legislation.
Sims hold a large share in the UK’s WEEE processing capacity; approximately 25% over eight operating facilities. The statement comes after collection figures for the first three months of the year revealed that the UK is slightly below target for 2014 so far. This has prompted some concern in the sector, despite BIS describing the figures as “encouraging” last month.
Although the doors are closing on Sims, we remain optimistic the target can still be met. ecosurety continues to develop our network of evidence suppliers to ensure the security of our members’ obligations.
Read the full story here.
James Piper
Chief executive officer
James Piper is CEO of Ecosurety. As well as providing a consistently high service to our customer base of over 1,000 companies, James is driven to bring about positive change in the compliance market through increased transparency and accountability. Since taking this position in 2016, James has worked to demonstrate that recycling compliance need not be perceived as a tax, but an opportunity for brands to align their producer responsibility obligations with their sustainability agenda.
Useful links
Just before Christmas, Defra released their white paper - Our Waste, Our Resources: A Strategy for England.
Read More >>Defra have released the UK WEEE collections figures up to the end of Q3, and unfortunately it looks like we are falling behind on the targets – with a considerable risk of the UK missing the national targets for a second year running.
Read More >>The UK Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations require companies to take responsibility for reducing the environmental impact of electrical items they place on to the UK market, when the products reach the end of their lives.
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