The digital switchover in London this April and in others parts of the UK appears to have had little effect on WEEE collection rates in the first three months of 2012 with Environment Agency data published showing recycling rates remained largely unchanged.
However, with the switchover in London taking place in mid-April, it is thought that many of the television sets discarded because of the switchover will appear in the second quarter rather than first quarter figures.
The data suggests that household WEEE equal to 47.5% of the new electronic equipment placed onto the UK market by members of producer compliance schemes in the first quarter of 2012 was recycled.
This means that the UK’s performance has remained broadly the same as at the same period in 2011, when around 48.7% of domestic WEEE was collected, but if borne out across the year it would be higher than the 43.86% collection rate for household WEEE achieved in 2011.
Surprisingly, the first quarter of 2012 has seen a fall in the tonnage of display equipment received compared to the same period for the preceding year, despite forecasts that WEEE reprocessors would be hit by a ‘tv avalanche’ in light of the digital switchover.
According to the data, just over 35,000 tonnes of display equipment was collected for treatment in the first quarter of the year, compared to over 37,000 tonnes for the same period in 2011.
Duncan Simpson, director of sales and marketing at compliance scheme Valpak, said: “There appear to be small decreases in tonnages collected but nothing out of the ordinary considering the present economic climate. Changes are more reflective of falls in UK sales as opposed to drop off in participation and collection rates.
Source: letsrecycle.com
By Will Date