Mary Creagh MP Tightens Law On Electrical Waste Costs

The draft legislation introduced by Minister Creagh on 2nd July

Mary Creagh MP, Minister for Nature, has introduced legislation which ensures that those who profit from the sale of electrical products take financial responsibility for dealing with the waste that those products create.

The UK is the second biggest generator of electrical waste in the world.

Many electrical items sold online end up in bins or are sent to landfill and too often harm our natural environment. Single-use vapes have been banned from sale, but those still in circulation, and refillable vapes are still a serious littering issue. Vapes can cause fires in waste storage areas at huge cost for the recycling industry. This is not sustainable economically, environmentally or socially.

Producers of electricals, including vapes, are already required to finance the cost of their treatment when they become waste. However, vapes are currently classified as toys and leisure equipment. This means that the toy and leisure product manufacturers subsidising the waste management cost of vapes.

The first part of this legislation creates a distinct category for vapes, so producers of the vapes and similar products become directly accountable for the environmental impact that they place on the UK market.

The second part changes the law to require online marketplaces to cover the costs of products sold by overseas sellers into the UK using their platforms. Currently, UK-based businesses, often in our high streets, are picking up the costs for those overseas sellers. This change stops the freeloading at a time when online sales are skyrocketing; around half a million tonnes of electrical products are placed on the UK market via online marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay each year.

These changes are about fairness for the UK high street. They support businesses doing the right thing and ensuring that the correct producers pay their fair share of the waste management costs. Environmental responsibility is not optional; it is part of doing business in a modern circular economy.

Transitioning to a zero-waste economy is one of five priorities for Defra as the Labour government rebuilds Britain. Our circular economy strategy, coming later this year, will set out further plans to stem the rising tide of electronic waste. This Government are committed to putting the “polluter pays” principle into action by tackling the waste cowboys and cleaning up Britain.