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 1.8 million tonnes of EEE was placed on the market in the UK in 2020, with 466,420 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 (primarily EWC 20 01 35 and 20 01 36) or non-household (EWC 16 02 09* to 16). 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 EA indicated that 1.6 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 2020, of which 466,420 tonnes was collected:

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 2020 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	69,881	93,026	22,104	186,368	481	186,849
2	Small Household Appliances	24,758	672	2,441	27,938	66	28,004
3	IT and Telcomms Equipment	22,180	633	9,087	31,974	647	32,621
4	Consumer Equipment	15,509	157	3,862	19,557	14	19,571
5	Lighting Equipment	3,847	100	532	4,484	2,754	7,238
6	Electrical and Electronic Tools	18,873	200	1,031	20,147	139	20,286
7	Toys Leisure and Sports	3,684	31	247	3,968	2	3,970
8	Medical Devices	4	0	10	13	223	236
9	Monitoring and Control Instruments	738	15	211	969	105	1,074
10	Automatic Dispensers	0	0	0	0	121	121
11	Display Equipment	31,709	1,315	2,934	36,029	10	36,039
12	Cooling Appliances Containing Refrigerants	68,796	46,442	8,946	125,005	1,723	126,728
13	Gas Discharge Lamps and LED Light Sources	704	171	2,570	3,445	1	3,446
14	Photovoltaic Panels	170	23	42	236	0	236
	Total	260,850	142,785	54,016	460,134	6,286	466,419

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}}}