And growing as Producer registration continues Leeds based waste electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE) compliance scheme, WeeeCare (www.weeecare.com), is one of the most popular UK schemes with an estimated 20% of Producers joining, according to preliminary data collated by the Environment Agency (EA). The company, which set out its stall in 2006 as being the lowest cost compliance scheme, has won over businesses throughout the UK with its no nonsense, low cost approach.
WeeeCare's success in subscribing WEEE producers is due to it offering the lowest membership costs for the majority of Producers and the lowest collection and treatment costs from as little as £6 per tonne of EEE placed on the market. A further advantage WeeeCare has over other Compliance Schemes is the offer of a guaranteed compliance cost for 2007.
WeeeCare has been able to underwrite the annual cost of collection and recycling as it has a long history of providing low cost waste management for clients through sister company WasteCare; which in 2006 set up WeeeCare specifically to help companies with the Government's WEEE Regulations.
In total there are 37 Compliance Schemes, although many of them do not handle all waste electronic and electrical equipment. Some schemes do not handle hazardous WEEE (CRTs, fluorescent tubes) and some schemes only handle non-household WEEE. As the UK's largest scheme, WeeeCare handles all categories of WEEE and is open to any producer.
The WEEE Regulations will, from 1st July 2007, require producers of WEEE to foot the bill for the collection, treatment, recovery and environmentally sound disposal or recycling of WEEE. Those subscribed to WeeeCare will benefit from much lower costs, and a clear understanding of the requirements placed on them.
However, companies still not subscribed to a compliance scheme need not panic as the Environment Agency is adopting a 'light touch' to enforcement during the first few months; although it has stated that "If you missed the 15 March deadline, we advise you to get yourself into a scheme as soon as possible", and it warns "Signing up late is better than leaving it altogether. Unregistered producers will have committed an offence and if you leave it too late, you risk getting prosecuted."
If you haven't joined a Scheme or you are unsure whether you need to join one or not, contact WeeeCare on 0844 800 2004 for advice or join on-line at www.weeecare.com