RECYCLING PLANS IN CHAOS

5.23.14pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 12th Jul 2007

Government plans for the recycling of electrical products that were due to start on the 1st of July are proving a fiasco according to West Midlands Euro-MP Liz Lynne.

Speaking in the week that the European Parliament voted to strengthen the regulatory procedure obligation for Member States, Liz said:

"The system is in total disarray. It is now virtually impossible for the law to be complied with. Most Local Authorities have yet to decide which Producer Compliance Scheme (PCS) to work with, so the schemes themselves do not know which areas they are going to be responsible for."

"Electrical waste recycling laws have been operating successfully in a number of EU countries for some years. We should have learnt from best practice. Instead the Government has dithered and made Britain look stupid, while specialist recyclers are concerned that further delays will affect business and service provision."

Britain is the only country in Europe not to have already implemented an EU environment law, the Waste Electrical and Electronic Waste Directive (WEEE), which should have been in force in 2005 and holds manufacturers responsible for ensuring that their products are recycled.

Liz Lynne says that Government confusion means electrical manufacturers have been breaking the law since the first day of its operation.

Electrical manufacturers must sign up to one of 37 Producer Compliance Schemes (PCS) but guidance from the Department of Trade and Industry is said to been late and confusing. Approved recycling companies also need permits that in the run up to the deadline the Environment Agency had still not issued.

ENDS