Recolight welcomes Defra online marketplace WEEE announcement

The Government today announced that online marketplaces are to be brought into scope of the WEEE regulations. This means that online marketplaces will be responsible for the WEEE costs of any non-compliant product sold through the platform.

Welcoming the news, Recolight CEO Nigel Harvey said, “It is great to see this change announced. For far too long, many online marketplaces have been able to avoid WEEE costs. That in turn has meant that legitimate UK businesses pay more than their fair share. This change is a vital step to make sure that compliant UK businesses are not put at a competitive disadvantage by non-compliant imports.”

He added, “Recolight has campaigned to close the online marketplace WEEE loophole for many years. We’ve undertaken research that has shown the huge proportion of non-compliant product sold via such platforms. For example, one analysis showed that 76 percent of LED lightbulbs sold by a leading online marketplace were not WEEE compliant. For the 220 producer members of the Recolight WEEE scheme, this change cannot come too soon.”

The Government has not announced a definitive timetable for the legislation. However, given that the WEEE system operates in calendar years, it would be logical for regulations to be made during 2025, coming into full force in 2026. Any transitional arrangements allowed for in the regulations should prioritise ensuring that full financial liability is brought in as early as possible.