LAs may already be familiar with “Regulation 34” provisions within the current WEEE Regs and the associated “Producer Balancing System” that provides a guarantee that PCSs will always ensure WEEE arising at HWRCs is taken away and properly treated by approved recyclers.
The huge rise in waste vapes sitting within category 7 of the Regs has essentially produced an anomaly that meant any LAs separately collecting vapes could not exercise the provisions of Reg34 to easily get PCSs to take them away for recycling. Earlier this year Defra managed, working with the PCS community, to address that shortcoming to the PBS such that if LAs do separately collect vapes at HWRCs and their incumbent PCS is not incentivised to collect them, they can trigger the PBS to ensure that a compliance scheme is appointed to collect them.
Defra are keen to ensure that waste disposal authorities are aware of this provision and their rights that guarantee that vapes brought by householders to HWRCs will be taken away for recycling by an approved producer compliance scheme. Material Focus have produced a useful guidance note which complements that available on gov.uk. It also includes downloadable signage graphics to use at HWRCs for vape collection bins:
So the message is, if you have not got a provision on site for separate vape collection then talk to PCS who collects small WEEE about putting that in place - noting that the provisions under Reg34 and the “producer balancing system” provide for vapes to be dealt with aside from existing arrangements between LAs, or their waste management partners and producer compliance schemes. Once an LA has gone through the PBS process, it will receive a vape drum for each site.
LARAC comment -
Members can hear more about this topic in the recording of our recent Webinar: Difficult to Recycle Materials - Here
