New regulations that will require online marketplaces to finance recycling of electrical waste were published today. The new waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) regulations laid before Parliament close a crucial loophole that has allowed non-compliant product to be sold via online marketplaces.
Commenting on the news, Recolight CEO Nigel Harvey says, “For over a decade, online marketplaces have facilitated the sale of WEEE non-compliant products on an industrial scale. The consequences have been very damaging for legitimate UK businesses. The sellers of non-compliant products have gained an unfair advantage because they do not pay their share of recycling costs. But to add insult to injury, that has in turn meant that WEEE costs to compliant businesses have been higher than needed.”
The new regulations mean that online marketplaces must report all household electricals within the scope of the existing WEEE regulations from non-UK suppliers. As a consequence, online marketplaces will incur some additional WEEE costs in 2026, with full costs being allocated from 2027.
The lighting industry has been particularly impacted by the scale of freeriding on online marketplaces. A survey by the UK WEEE Scheme Forum showed that 76% of LED lamps offered for sale on a major marketplace were not registered for WEEE.
Nigel adds, “This is a great day for many companies in the UK lighting industry. At last, the end is in sight for this unfair competition. Recolight has pushed long and hard for this change on behalf of our 220 members.
“The mechanism that the government has chosen to implement the change is particularly efficient: rather than requiring many tens of thousands of non-UK companies to register for WEEE, they have instead placed that obligation on the small number of online marketplaces. That makes enforcement by the UK environment agencies much more straightforward.”
The regulations will need to pass through both Houses of Parliament.
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