The Environmental Audit Committee returns to the issue of
electronic waste as it
considers what more the Government should do to tackle the
“tsunami” of wasted electronic items.
MPs will hold an evidence session on 17th April and
plan to hear evidence from witnesses across the electronic goods
and waste industries.
Manufacturing electronic items from raw materials can release
significant carbon emissions, causing serious damage to the
environment. Unless treated properly, electronic waste can
release toxic chemicals that harm human and animal health.
In November 2020, the Committee’s report ‘Electronic
waste and the circular economy” highlighted these damaging
impacts. The Committee called for more to be done on embedding a
circular economy to use, re-use and recycle electronic products.
At the time, the Government fully or partially accepted 22 of the
Committee’s 27 recommendations.
However, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs’
consultation on electrical waste failed to address many of these
recommendations or to give commitments to implement the
recommendations accepted by Government. Proposals such as
ensuring products sold on online marketplaces are legally
compliant, addressing planned obsolescence and making electrical
items safe to repair for the consumer are not covered in the
current consultation.
Committee Chair Philip Dunne wrote to the
Government in March 2024, criticising the absence of several
of the Committee’s recommendations in its consultation on
electronic waste. Commenting on the letter, the Chair said it
appeared the Government was “yet to grasp fully the scale of the
e-waste tsunami.”
In the session MPs will examine the Government’s consultation,
considering whether it concerned the necessary elements of
electrical waste reforms and whether anything was missed. They
are also likely to consider the National Audit Office’s findings
last year that the Government’s waste reform programme is
significantly behind schedule and lacking a plan for
delivery.
Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, Philip Dunne MP,
said:
“The Committee was encouraged when the Government accepted the
majority of its recommendations to tackle e-waste in 2020. Yet
four years on, it appears the Government is failing to make
substantial progress.
“I recently referred to the ‘tsunami’ of e-waste in the UK; yet
it appears the Government is wasting an opportunity to tackle
this problem head on.
“We will be hearing from a range of industry voices on what the
Government needs to do to get its waste strategy back on
track.”
