Research commissioned by Material Focus has identified new measures that could improve the circularity of UK electrical and battery flows.
The research has identified a range of actions that could improve the way the UK measures and assesses the efficiency of its waste electrical and portable battery systems.
Material Focus says introducing these metrics would provide a more “accurate and holistic view” of the systems and help improve the industry’s move towards a circular economy.
The current UK producer responsibility regulations for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and for Waste Batteries require the producers of electrical and portable batteries to report what electricals and batteries they sell by weight and by type of product.
The UK government uses this information to set collection and recycling targets and the regulations require producers to be responsible for financing the cost of collection, treatment, recycling and recovery of waste electricals and batteries.
The measures proposed in this research, Material Focus says, may also assist regulators in making better informed and more targeted interventions to help deliver greater circularity in these sectors.
This research has identified new measures that could deliver the most comprehensive understanding of electricals and portable battery flows.
The research estimated that the total cost to implement all the proposed metrics across all regions of the UK is approximately £170,000 per year.
Material Focus commissioned global strategic environmental, and engineering consulting company Ricardo to “Measure the success of the UK’s waste electricals and waste portable battery systems”.
The research identified that the current regulations are primarily focused on the weight of electricals that are recycled, with limited consideration and measurement of waste reduction options such as reuse, repair and refurbishment.
In addition, weight-based targets “overlook the impacts and importance” of circular design, changes in design due to technological advances and the efficiency and quality of the recycling processes and their material outputs.
Scott Butler, Executive Director, Material Focus, commented: “This research has identified new measures that could deliver the most comprehensive understanding of electricals and portable battery flows and their performance within the UK circular economy to date.
Greater understanding of consumer behaviours will also provide essential information.
“Greater understanding of consumer behaviours will also provide essential information. Together these new metrics will provide information that can assist in targeting useful actions and interventions to improve the circularity of the waste electricals and portable batteries systems.”
The research identified several new UK metrics to improve the circularity of the waste electricals, including ongoing reporting of new electricals and batteries placed on the market by quantity as well as weight, and new reporting of materials recovered by weight.
Other metrics include establishing national trackers to better understand consumer awareness and behaviours and a national system to record the number and type of drop-off points for used electricals and batteries across the UK.
