Amazon and eBay to pay for e-waste recycling under Government plans

The Government has unveiled plans to make online marketplaces and vape producers pay their “fair share” towards recycling electrical waste in the UK.

UK-based businesses – like Currys, Argos, Apple Retail UK, Tesco and Microsoft – currently have to pay into an Environment Agency pot to support e-waste collection and recycling.

But overseas producers selling electronic items to UK consumers through online marketplaces, like Amazon and eBay, do not.

Circular economy minister Mary Creagh announced plans on Tuesday to require these online giants to help cover these costs in a bid to “level the playing field” for British businesses.

The minister also revealed that vapes, which are currently classed under “toys, leisure and sports equipment”, will be given a whole new electrical waste category.

This change will ensure vape suppliers properly finance the cost of their separate collection and treatment when the items become waste, she said.

“It’s absolutely extraordinary that they are classed as toys and leisure products,” she said. “That is clearly not right”.

Both measures will come into force in January 2026.

In the UK, around 100,000 tonnes of household electrical items are binned annually, driving carbon emissions from manufacturing and the release of toxic chemicals from untreated e-waste.

An estimated 880 million unwanted items containing valuable commodities such as gold and platinum have also been abandoned or ignored in the back of cupboards and drawers, according to non-profit Material Focus.

Ms Creagh said the new proposals are part of wider Government plans to generate a more circular economy in the UK as she visited Currys’ 500,000-square foot repair centre in Newark, Nottinghamshire, on Monday.

Speaking to the PA news agency, the minister said: “Under these new plans, online marketplaces – Amazon, eBay and others – will face much tougher obligations to ensure that overseas sellers who use their platforms contribute to that cost of collection and recycling.”

She said the move will support the UK high street, helping businesses struggling to compete with cheaper online retailers and protecting consumers who may be unable to return dud purchases bought from overseas.

Asked about producers potentially turning away from selling to the UK market due to the extra costs, she said: “I think it’s really important that these measures put overseas businesses on a level playing field with UK businesses.

“There can be no free-riding in the UK economy and it’s really important that we capture the previous materials in waste materials and that we keep those resources in use for longer.”

Ms Creagh described operations like Currys’ Newark repair centre, where thousands of faulty, returned or broken items are processed each week, as “absolutely vital” to driving a circular economy.

“We’ve got a lot of things being manufactured and made in China in South Korea but this is a really good example of a proud British company innovating, investing and responsibly treating electrical waste so it can be used over and over again and used for longer,” she said.

Alex Baldock, chief executive at Currys, said: “We welcome the Government’s new measures to help level the playing field for responsibility for waste, making online marketplaces do their part.

“Low value, low quality and unsustainable tech is piling up in landfills, and it’s good to see Government doing something to tackle that.”

A spokesperson from Amazon said: “Amazon is committed to minimising waste and helping our customers to reuse, repair, and recycle their products. We provide a range of options through the Amazon Second Chance website, and customers can recycle electronics through Amazon Trade-In and home collection services on our Amazon Recycling website.

“We also work closely with many major repair partners like GXO ServiceTech to repair and refurbish thousands of electronic products to help give them a second life.”

Under the plans, online marketplaces will need to register with the Environment Agency and report data on UK sales of their overseas sellers.

This data will then be used to calculate the financial contribution the online marketplace will make towards the costs of e-waste collection and treatment.

The cost of that annual registration will be subject to a consultation led by the Environment Agency.

Also announced by the Government on Tuesday was the launch of a Circular Economy Taskforce, which will see members from industry, academia, and civil society lead the development of a strategy for England to be published next year.

More widely, ministers are planning to push ahead with the long-awaited deposit return scheme for drinks containers and extended producer responsibility rules that will require packaging producers to pay for the recycling and waste management of the products they make.

Published: 10/12/2024 by Radio NewsHub