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Electrical goods are among the fastest growing waste streams in the UK

Taking the power back Retailers are obliged under the WEEE Regulations to ensure that they play their part in the recycling of old electronic goods. Will Date examines some of the ways the retail sector can meet these obligations

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In 2012, producers of electronic goods placed more than 1.4 million tonnes of new products onto the market in the UK. The vast majority of this was sold on the high street, in stores such as Currys/PC World and Argos, or online by retailers such as Amazon.com. As distributors of electronic and electrical equipment (shortened within the trade to EEE), retailers have an obligation to ensure that they are responsible for the recycling of a proportionate amount of the waste electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE) that they help to reach the marketplace. The impetus for retailers to handle their WEEE responsibly comes from the European Union, through the WEEE Directive which was passed in 2002, with corresponding legislation then passed into UK law. Waste electronic goods are often seen as one of the most difficult areas of waste to treat, and a growing problem in terms of illegal disposal and pollution. As such, the EU updated its legislation in 2012, with increasing obligations for retailers among one of the main areas of focus. MEPs voted in favour of stricter requirements for retailers to offer the option of ‘take back’ to their customers for any WEEE items in store – regardless of the original point of sale. Under the new WEEE Regulations, which came into effect in the UK from January 2014, if a store has a floor area greater than 400m² and sells electrical equipment, then the retailer must now receive back any ‘very small’ WEEE free of charge regardless of whether the person bringing it to the store buys any new goods.

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Very small WEEE equates to items measuring less than 25cm in height, depth or length. Prior to that, retailers were required to offer in-store take back on a like-for-like basis, with items similar to those being purchased acceptable for return. Retailer take back is far from a new concept in the UK however, and many brands are already well established in the field. For those where take back is not practical the ‘Distributor Take Back Scheme’ (DTS) exists, more details on which will come later. A number of retailers have been seen to take an active lead in the field of customer take back not least the supermarket chain Tesco. Among the initiatives Tesco has carried out to encourage more customers to raise awareness of WEEE recycling and to promote its own in-store take back services is to offer loyalty card points to customers returning unwanted items such as TVs, laptops and microwaves. Other large retailers also value the benefit of offering take back facilities as one means of trying to protect their brand image against the damage that can be caused if a business is linked to the illegal export of WEEE to the developing world.

Some retailers offer take back alongside home delivery services

Dixons Dixons Retail is one such brand where ownership of WEEE is an important concept, and the company has taken steps to ensure that its take back initiative is clearly signposted for in-store customers, as well as to those who benefit from the company’s home delivery option. The company’s recycling and compliance manager, Chris Brown, explains to Retail Environment, that ensuring recycling is as easy as possible is the key to making sure the service is used. “Convenience is key,” he says. “Customers are looking for an easy and cost effective solution to safely recycle their old products and appliances. Feedback has shown our recycling scheme hits the mark because not only is it free, but customers can recycle with us regardless of where the product was originally bought or whether they are currently purchasing from us again. They also have the choice about whether to recycle with us in store, or have their product collected when receiving a delivery.” He also adds that the WEEE message is reinforced by a range of promotional materials, and through interactions with shop floor staff. “We promote the recycling message through in-store posters across a range of categories and we have WEEE Directive information displayed at the entrances and till points. Customers can find further information on our recycling services and read about the WEEE Directive on our websites and colleagues also ensure customers are aware of the services we offer, through the conversations they are having in store and over the phone. “All of our colleagues are actively encouraged to inform customers that they can drop off their old items for recycling at our stores anytime, regardless of where they were bought. Colleagues will also remind customers when selling a delivery item that we can take their old products away for free to recycle. On average, we will collect an item for recycling on about 45% of all deliveries we make.”

Retailers are obliged to inform customers about how they can recycle their WEEE

Take Back Scheme A number of leading retailers have joined the government-supported Distributor Take Back Scheme, funding from which goes to support local authority household waste recycling centres to improve WEEE collection facilities at these sites. These include leading retail chains such as Tesco, Asda, Marks & Spencer, John Lewis, Selfridges and Toys R Us. The Scheme was set up in 2007 as an alternative means for retailers unable to meet their requirements to offer in-store take back, or where implementing such a scheme would not be practical. Members of the scheme are charged a fee which is calculated proportionately to the amount of new electrical equipment they help reach the market, with money from the fund being provided to councils for the development and maintenance of WEEE collection facilities at civic amenity sites. A total of 1,861 firms have signed up to participate in the DTS, which has provided around £12 million in support for councils running WEEE collection facilities over its lifetime. Among the initiatives funded through the DTS to date is the WEEE Local Project Fund, which received around £650,000 of funding and gave councils the opportunity to set up projects to increase recycling and reuse of WEEE from householders. Councils including Woking borough council and West Sussex county council have been among the first to benefit. Explaining the advantage of the DTS, Adrian Hawkes of the

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scheme’s administrator Valpak, says that it offered retailers flexibility to provide take back services where it was practical for them, while still allowing them to meet their obligations. He explains: “The DTS was extended into phase 3 from the beginning of 2013 for a four year period, which included the last year of operations under the old regulations and the first three years of the new regulations. The Scheme gives members exemptions from their take back requirements. The benefit to retailers is that they don’t have to set up their own facilities, if they don’t want to deal with what could potentially be hazardous equipment. “Some of our members still do that, perhaps for some types of equipment, I think it’s to improve custom relations and promote their stores over their competitors. It gives them a bit more flexibility about when and where they can do that rather than having to do that all of the time.” For those where there is no physical in-store contact with customers, take back is somewhat more challenging. Internet retailers are faced with the choice of offering clients an alternative route for free take back or join the DTS. But every distributor is responsible for communicating with customers what steps are available to dispose of their WEEE responsibly, whether this be via catalogue, website, sales receipts or through a leaflet included with the purchase. But for retailers where direct home delivery is an option, this also provides an opportunity for customers to ‘trade-in’ an unwanted piece of equipment – which can avoid the problem of transporting the item to a collection facility – which is often a barrier to recycling for large domestic appliances such as dishwashers, washing machines or tumble dryers. The WEEE Regulations do not stipulate that this service has to be free, and retailers may charge for collection, but the Regulations do prevent any of the cost of treatment or reprocessing of WEEE being passed on to the consumer.

Obligations A working group called the Electronic Products ‘Pathfinder’ Group (EPPG) has also been set up to help improve the UK’s performance in meeting its WEEE recycling obligations. It is headed by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) – a government funded body tasked with helping to improve markets for recycled materials, and help devise strategies for dealing with waste. Retailers are a core element of the EPPG, with ASDA, B&Q, Dixons Retail, John Lewis and others all among the membership. The group is building upon the voluntary approach pioneered in the packaging waste initiative the Courtauld Commitment to improve performance around WEEE recycling. A spokeswoman for WRAP, said: “The EPPG is evolving towards a Sustainable Electrical Action Plan which will build on WRAP’s success in the food and drink sector with the Courtauld Commitment, and the more recent Sustainable Clothing Action Plan 2020 Commitment. We aim to add real value by developing and sharing new insights in areas such as business model pilots, consumer research, measurement of environmental impact, regulatory clarity, and influencing consumer behaviour.

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Any retailer selling new electrical goods is obligated under the WEEE regulations

WEEE recycling facts • Electrical goods are the fastest growing waste stream in the UK, growing by an estimated 5% each year • Each year as much as 1.2 million tonnes of electrical waste is generated in the UK • 75% of all waste electrical items disposed of are believed to end up in landfill sites • During their average lifespan, one UK citizen will create up to 3.3 tonnes of electrical waste • Over two million television sets are discarded in the UK every year • On average, each person in the UK buys three new electrical items each year, roughly 173 million nationally • Only a 1/3 of people (35%) believe electrical goods can be recycled. Sources: Valpak & Recycle Now Partners

“In December 2013, Defra published its Waste Prevention Plan for England and WRAP published Switched on to Value an evidence base on the business case for longer product lifetime. These reports identified the need to bring together a wide range of stakeholders to catalyse sector action on reducing the environmental impacts of electrical and electronic products sold in the UK, and proposed a new ‘Sustainable Electricals Action Plan’ to achieve this.” WRAP is expected to share its initial proposals and consult with stakeholders from late March, leading to the launch of the action plan in summer 2014. There are many ways for retailers to get involved in the recycling of electronic equipment, to ensure their legal obligations are met. Some, due to time, space and other restraints, through the Distributor Take Back Scheme and others through a more direct route which sees them undertake their own collections of the material. The law is clear in what is expected from retailers and as such they are working hard to comply and also to boost customer relations. The important thing now is to ensure the sector continues this good work to reduce the impact of the materials they put on the market. RE