Comment on the UK's Q4 WEEE Collection Figures
The recent release of updated Q4 waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) collection figures confirms the United Kingdom met its targets for 2016.
Commenting on the latest figures, Mark Sayers, principal consultant with resource efficiency specialist Ecosurety, said: "It is great to see 2016 WEEE targets were met overall, although the final spread of results takes greater account of different categories and means the picture may not be entirely balanced.
"In terms of sales, producers fared along similar lines to last Christmas by reporting an increase in WEEE during the last quarter of 2016. What surprises most was a 23 per cent drop in sales of IT and telecommunication equipment which represents some 8,000 tonnes of waste and is bound to affect producers' market share recycling targets in 2017.
"As expected, sales of Polyvinyl (PV) panels continued to decline, and confirmed the impact of subsidy withdrawal on producers in the segment.
"WEEE collections from Local Authorities, retailers and end-users suggest the United Kingdom is doing well with large domestic appliances, display, and cooling equipment which are generally easier to collect
"Indeed, there was a surprising shortfall in small mixed WEEE collections suggesting some schemes may have missed their targets for the year, with a sharp fall in electrical lamp collections in particular suggesting targets may have to be revised for 2017".
