Recommendation 26

HM Government Not Addressed

The Government recognises the importance of encouraging reuse to ensure products as well as materials are kept in use for longer, reducing costs and greenhouse gas emissions from extraction and processing. We therefore committed in our Resources and Waste Strategy to explore the feasibility of introducing measures aimed at encouraging increased levels of reuse in our review of the WEEE Regulations. There are various ways in which greater reuse of unwanted equipment can be facilitated and encouraged; these include designing products to last longer and to be more easily repairable (e.g. with modular components) and diverting unwanted working equipment away from waste sites (e.g. to charities). It is worth noting that considerable re-use of working equipment already takes place through both informal channels and donations as well as via online websites and platforms that specialise in the sale of used items. We are discussing with industry stakeholders, as part of our ongoing engagement with them on the WEEE Regulations review, how to design a system which facilitates and encourages greater levels of reuse over recycling of unwanted equipment We will fully explore the potential role of reuse targets, including consideration of where in the system such targets may be most usefully applied and how exactly reuse should be defined and accurately monitored. We will also explore modulating financial obligations placed on producers under the WEEE Regulations in way that incentivises collections for reuse over collections for recycling. The re-use potential for WEEE returned to retailers and internet sellers in store or on delivery of new items is far greater than at local authority recycling centres where items are often exposed to the elements and so we also need to consider at which point of the system it is most beneficial to target regulatory intervention. The review of the WEEE regulations provides an opportunity to look at how we can divert more WEEE into those routes and thereby drive-up re-use potential and we will therefore consult on a number of policy proposals to this effect.