Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), also known as E-waste, is end of life Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE), i.e. items that require electric currents or electromagnetic fields in order to operate. The EA reported that 1.7 million tonnes of EEE was placed on the market in the UK in 2019, with 505,445 tonnes of WEEE collected.

WEEE - Picture from BioEnergy Consult, All Rights Reserved

Overview

WEEE was first introduced by the WEEE Directive in 2002 to address the environmental impacts of unwanted electrical and electronic equipment at end-of-life and disposal. WEEE is classed as either household or non-household WEEE. The objective of the Directive and its transposed legislation, the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2007, as amended is to promote recycling and minimise waste by putting the emphasis for end-of-life treatment and recovery on the original producers or distributors of the items. In the 2019-21 House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee Report it identifies the UK as the second highest generator of E-waste per person in the world, after Norway, at 23.9kg per person.

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013 (as amended) is the current underpinning UK legislation .

The regulations identify 10 broad categories of WEEE, including:

1. Large household appliances e.g. fridges, cookers, microwaves, washing machines and dishwashers
2. Small household appliances e.g. vacuum cleaners, irons, toasters and clocks
3. IT and telecommunications equipment – e.g. personal computers, copying equipment, telephones and pocket calculators
4. Consumer equipment e.g. radios, televisions, hi-fi equipment, camcorders ad musical instruments
5. Lighting equipment e.g. straight and compact fluorescent tubes and high intensity discharge lamps
6. Electrical and electronic tools – e.g. drills, saws and sewing machines, electric lawnmowers
7. Toys, leisure and sports equipment e.g. electric trains, games consoles and running machines
8. Medical devices e.g. (non infected) dialysis machines, analysers, medical freezers and cardiology equipment
9. Monitoring and control equipment e .g. smoke detectors, thermostats and heating regulators
10. Automatic dispensers e.g. hot drinks dispensers and money dispensers.

Recycling of WEEE is a specialist part of the waste and recycling industry; it is a rapidly growing sub-sector due largely to the implementation of the original WEEE Directive. ‌ WEEE generally contains a mixed variety of materials, potentially including hazardous ones (e.g. cadmium, arsenic or lead), making it problematic to manage and meaning the treatment methods for WEEE vary massively depending on the technology used and the relevant category.

Macro Tonnage

The most recent information published by DEFRA is summarized in the pie chart below, with 592,905 tonnes of collected discarded equipment waste identified in the UK in 2016 (WEEE being part of this category and the broader tonnage summarized in UK Waste Tonnage), the most recent data from the EAindicated that 1.4 million tonnes of Household Electronic and Electrical Equipment and 0.3 million tonnes of Non-Household Electronic and Electrical Equipment were placed on the market in 2019, of which 505,455 tonnes was collected against a target of 550,579 tonnes:

Discarded Equipment
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Data Table
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing (AFF)	165
Mining and Quarrying (MQ)	502
Industrial (Ind)	29,774
Construction (Con)	3,937
Commercial (Com)	201,877
Household (HH)	356,650

The macro numbers above do not breakdown the component elements of WEEE, but the EA data for January to December 2019 provides a more detailed breakdown for Household and Non-household WEEE.

	Category Name	Household WEEE collected from a DCF(tonnes)	Household WEEE returned under regulation 43 (tonnes)	Household WEEE returned under regulation 50 (tonnes)	Total separately collected Household WEEE(tonnes)	Total Non-household WEEE (tonnes)	Total WEEE (tonnes)
1	Large Household Appliances	74,809	85,332	14,661	175,236	248	175,484
2	Small Household Appliances	31,526	759	3,228	35,542	37	35,579
3	IT and Telcomms Equipment	31,546	764	12,386	44,798	1,906	46,704
4	Consumer Equipment	30,293	322	5,405	36,034	21	36,055
5	Lighting Equipment	10	73	499	582	2,697	3,279
6	Electrical and Electronic Tools	16,622	245	952	17,838	176	18,014
7	Toys Leisure and Sports	2,001	25	256	2,283	2	2,285
8	Medical Devices	0	0	2	3	281	283
9	Monitoring and Control Instruments	30	21	102	156	92	247
10	Automatic Dispensers	0	0	0	0	123	124
11	Display Equipment	37,919	1,395	5,300	44,615	20	44,634
12	Cooling Appliances Containing Refrigerants	83,648	40,948	9,609	134,811	3,327	138,138
13	Gas Discharge Lamps and LED Light Sources	945	250	3,358	4,553	2	4,555
14	Photovoltaic Panels	11	13	41	65	0	65
	Total	309,360	130,148	55,799	496,514	8,931	505,445

The following WEEE headers in the page are a selection of the above list as captured by local authorities handling WEEE and as reported through WasteDataFlow.

Fluorescent tubes and other light bulbs

Below is a list of local authorities that sends more than 2000 tonnes of this material to a single waste operator.

Authority	Stream	Facility	Operator	Address	Material	Tonnes
East Sussex County Council	Source segregated recyclate	Reprocessor - recycling (qu19)	M D J Light Bros ( Scrap Processors ) Ltd	Greystone Quarry, Southerham, Lewes, East Sussex	WEEE - Flourescent tubes and other light bulbs	6,150.33	{{{date}}}
Norfolk County Council	Source segregated recyclate	Reprocessor - recycling (qu19)	Wiser Recycling Ltd	St lves Resource Recovery Facility, Caxton Road, St lves, Cornwall	WEEE - Flourescent tubes and other light bulbs	4,205.06	{{{date}}}
Greater Manchester WDA (MBC)	Source segregated recyclate	Reprocessor - recycling (qu19)	Recycling Lives Ltd	D1/ D2 Longridge Road, Red Scar Bus Park, Preston, Lancashire	WEEE - Flourescent tubes and other light bulbs	3,953.13	{{{date}}}

Fridges & Freezers

Below is a list of local authorities that sends more than 5000 tonnes of this material to a single waste operator.

Authority	Stream	Facility	Operator	Address	Material	Tonnes
Stockport MBC	Source segregated recyclate	Reprocessor - recycling (qu19)	SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK Ltd	Longley Lane, Sharston, Manchester	WEEE - Fridges & Freezers	12,058.54	{{{date}}}
West Sussex County Council	Source segregated recyclate	Reprocessor - recycling (qu19)	M D J Light Bros ( Scrap Processors ) Ltd	Greystone Quarry, Southerham, Lewes, East Sussex	WEEE - Fridges & Freezers	9,245.76	{{{date}}}
East Sussex County Council	Source segregated recyclate	Reprocessor - recycling (qu19)	M D J Light Bros ( Scrap Processors ) Ltd	Greystone Quarry, Southerham, Lewes, East Sussex	WEEE - Fridges & Freezers	6,150.33	{{{date}}}

Large Domestic App

Below is a list of local authorities that sends more than 10000 tonnes of this material to a single waste operator.

Authority	Stream	Facility	Operator	Address	Material	Tonnes
Merseyside WDA (MBC)	Source segregated recyclate	Reprocessor - recycling (qu19)	S Norton & Co Ltd	Bankfield House, Bankfield Mill, Regent Road, Liverpool, Merseyside	WEEE - Large Domestic App	17,486.76	{{{date}}}
Devon County Council	Source segregated recyclate	Reprocessor - recycling (qu19)	Sims Group Uk Ltd	7 Christow Road, Marsh Barton Ind Est, Exeter, Devon	WEEE - Large Domestic App	10,490.73	{{{date}}}
Greater Manchester WDA (MBC)	Source segregated recyclate	Reprocessor - recycling (qu19)	Recycling Lives Ltd	D1/ D2 Longridge Road, Red Scar Bus Park, Preston, Lancashire	WEEE - Large Domestic App	10,159.73	{{{date}}}

Small Domestic App

Below is a list of local authorities that sends more than 10000 tonnes of this material to a single waste operator.

Authority	Stream	Facility	Operator	Address	Material	Tonnes
Merseyside WDA (MBC)	Source segregated recyclate	Reprocessor - recycling (qu19)	S Norton & Co Ltd	Bankfield House, Bankfield Mill, Regent Road, Liverpool, Merseyside	WEEE - Small Domestic App	17,486.76	{{{date}}}
Devon County Council	Source segregated recyclate	Reprocessor - recycling (qu19)	Sims Group Uk Ltd	7 Christow Road, Marsh Barton Ind Est, Exeter, Devon	WEEE - Small Domestic App	10,490.73	{{{date}}}

TVs & Monitors

Below is a list of local authorities that sends more than 5000 tonnes of this material to a single waste operator.

Authority	Stream	Facility	Operator	Address	Material	Tonnes
Greater Manchester WDA (MBC)	Source segregated recyclate	Reprocessor - recycling (qu19)	Recycling Lives Ltd	D1/ D2 Longridge Road, Red Scar Bus Park, Preston, Lancashire	WEEE - TVs & Monitors	10,159.73	{{{date}}}
West Sussex County Council	Source segregated recyclate	Reprocessor - recycling (qu19)	M D J Light Bros ( Scrap Processors ) Ltd	Greystone Quarry, Southerham, Lewes, East Sussex	WEEE - TVs & Monitors	9,245.76	{{{date}}}
Lancashire County Council	Source segregated recyclate	Reprocessor - recycling (qu19)	Recycling Lives Ltd	D1/ D2 Longridge Road, Red Scar Bus Park, Preston, Lancashire	WEEE - TVs & Monitors	8,725.31	{{{date}}}
East Sussex County Council	Source segregated recyclate	Reprocessor - recycling (qu19)	M D J Light Bros ( Scrap Processors ) Ltd	Greystone Quarry, Southerham, Lewes, East Sussex	WEEE - TVs & Monitors	6,150.33	{{{date}}}