2021 WEEE collection targets confirmed

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has released the final household WEEE collection targets for the 2021 compliance year

The proposed UK household WEEE collection target for 2021 is confirmed at 503,629 tonnes. This is 3,705 tonnes less than the proposed target of 507,334 communicated in early March (read our news story HERE on the initial target proposals) and 6,291 tonnes more than the 2020 target.

As we know, 2020 was an extraordinary year for WEEE collections; 2020 data has therefore, not been included in the analysis of historical trends for calculation of the 2021 target. The starting point for setting targets has been to undertake a five-year (2015-19) trend forecast to identify the total tonnage for collection of each individual category of WEEE. The methodology used in previous years would have seen an uplift applied to the trendline prediction, to reflect the government’s ambition of increasing WEEE collections. However, evidence from industry indicates that Q1 2021 collections are significantly lower than Q1 averages because of ongoing COVID restrictions, so an uplift has not been applied to the 2021 collection targets.

Adjustments have been made to categories 11, 12, 13 and 14 in response to feedback on the draft targets which raised concerns that previous growth trends were not reflective of current market dynamics for these categories. The table below shows how targets have been allocated across the 14 categories of EEE, including the aforementioned adjustments.

If you have any questions about these targets, please contact us on weee@complydirect.com and we will be happy to help.