WEEE DTS continuation approved for 2022-2023

On 14 December, we received confirmation from government that the current Distributor Take-Back Scheme (DTS) for WEEE will continue into phase 6, running from 1 January 2022 – 31 December 2023

DTS background

Any business selling electronic equipment direct to consumers in the UK has obligations around collection of equivalent waste electricals to the items they sell. For example, when a consumer purchases a toaster, they may be able to return their old toaster at the same time.

The Distributor Take-back Scheme (DTS) is a voluntary initiative that has historically allowed retailers to pay a fee to a central fund and in turn, not need to meet the direct take-back requirements of distributor take-back.

DTS phase 6

The current DTS is in place until 31 December 2021, which required retailers with an electrical sales turnover of over £100K per annum to provide in-store take-back from 1 January 2021.

Phase 6 of the DTS maintains that principle, ensuring large retailers continue to offer an in-store take-back service to their customers in line with the regulatory requirements. As previously, the new phase also allows smaller retailers and internet-only sellers to pay into the DTS scheme rather than take WEEE back directly from the consumer.

Determining your obligation

We have created an obligation flowchart graphic to help businesses identify their position in relation to the DTS. If you are selling electronic equipment directly to UK consumers and you are unable to join the DTS in 2022, you may need to provide take-back services for certain items of waste electricals.

If you have any queries with regards to the WEEE DTS and your obligations in phase 6, please contact weee@complydirect.com and the team will be happy to advise.