Recommendation 33

HM Government Not Addressed

The WEEE Regulations stipulate a range of recycling and recovery rates for e-waste treatment facilities for each of the categories of equipment, which they must meet as a condition of their approval. Whilst we do not have explicit plans to introduce further targets on critical raw material recovery we welcome the opportunity at this stage to set out some broader points on this issue which will be of interest to the Committee, as well as our other plans to enhance recycling and extraction of high value materials. We have a world class UK recycling industry for recovering PGM (platinum group metals) from catalytic converters. The success of this industry is based on multiple factors; existing technology that allows viable recycling, a reliable feedstock, and the value/market for the extracted critical material. Therefore, the viability of this industry and more importantly the likelihood of investment in that recycling sector is governed by the market price for the recycled critical raw materials Whilst the above example focuses on catalytic converters rather than electrical and electronic equipment, we believe the same principles apply. Specifically, if a market exists green investors and recycling technology will enter the market. An example in the electrical sector is LED lightbulbs which contain REE (Rare Earth Elements). In a bid to support circularity and build on specific commitments in the Resources and Waste Strategy, we will bring into play innovation to enhance both recycling and extraction of high value materials. Specifically, we will explore introducing: • Product passports - which will identify the quantity and type of critical raw materials within a given product. • Waste tracking - which will look at ways of tracking the quantity and type of waste generated, and what happens to it. This could potentially provide information on the location and amount of waste materials that could be put to more productive use, and support investment and recycling. We believe these examples of action provide a clear demonstration of the Government’s commitment to enhance recycling and extraction of high value materials and that we are committed to ensuring e-waste treatment facilities operate to the highest standards when processing materials.