High Court upholds UK electronics recycling rule

The UK’s regulations governing the collection, treatment and recycling of electrical and electronic equipment are both lawful and consistent with the EU Directive, the High Court has ruled.

Ian Lucas, MP Minister for Business, called the ruling a “resounding endorsement of the UK Waste Electrical and Electronic Regulations. We are recycling more electrical equipment than ever before, which is a testimony to the system.”

Lucas continued, “The UK system has made a successful start with the UK recycling the equivalent of roughly 7 kilograms per head of population last year, far in excess of the 4-kilogram requirement set by the European Commission … The Government will continue to monitor the system and will be bringing forward amendments to the Regulations for introduction in 2010 which will streamline the system and reduce the administrative burden placed on businesses.   We will also be working alongside other Member States to ensure the recast of the Directive fits with the needs of UK producers and other stakeholders.”

Producer Compliance Scheme Repic Ltd had brought a Judicial Review in the High Court against the Department for Business and the Environment Agency, claiming the agency’s continued failure to take enforcement action against schemes which are deliberately and significantly over-collecting waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) was unlawful.

Repic also charged the UK WEEE regulations are unlawful as they fail to provide any mechanism to prevent schemes from charging excessive prices for evidence notes at the end of each compliance period.

In ruling against Repic, Justice Wyn Williams recognised there was inevitably a “settling down” period on introduction of the Regulations in 2007 and that the power to take enforcement action is discretionary and had not been precluded by the defendants.  He also confirmed the Regulations represented a lawful transposition of the EU Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive into national law.

Repic, however, did not view the decision as a defeat.

“If schemes deliberately over-collect in breach of that plan they will be in breach of their ongoing conditions of approval and guilty of a criminal offence,” said Philip Morton, Chief Executive of Repic. “This is consistent with the view that Repic has held since the implementation of the WEEE Regulations. Repic has long campaigned to stop the willful and deliberate over-collection by some schemes undermining the UK WEEE system. This judgment will provide the regulator with the clarity and direction it needs to take appropriate enforcement action against schemes, and we look forward to more proactive enforcement in the future and welcome the positive changes that such enforcement will bring.”

Morton concluded, “Our decision to launch the judicial review process has been vindicated. This can only benefit all stakeholders and assist in improving the UK WEEE system and achieving the fundamental objectives of the WEEE Directive.”