New regulations that will require online marketplaces to finance recycling of electrical waste were
published today. The new waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) regulations laid before
parliament close a crucial loophole that has allowed non-compliant product to be sold via online
marketplaces.

Commenting on the news, Recolight CEO Nigel Harvey said “For over a decade, online marketplaces have facilitated the sale of WEEE non-compliant products on an industrial scale. The consequences have been very damaging for legitimate UK businesses. The sellers of non-compliant products have gained an unfair advantage because they do not pay their share of recycling costs. But to add insult to injury, that has in turn meant that WEEE costs to compliant businesses have been higher than needed.”

The new regulations mean that online marketplaces must report all household electricals within the
scope of the existing WEEE regulations from non-UK suppliers. As a consequence, online
marketplaces will incur some additional WEEE costs in 2026, with full costs being allocated from
2027.

The lighting industry has been particularly impacted by the scale of freeriding on online marketplaces.
A survey by the UK WEEE Scheme Forum showed that 76% of LED lamps offered for sale on a major
marketplace were not registered for WEEE.

Nigel Harvey added “This is a great day for many companies in the UK lighting industry. At last, the
end is in sight for this unfair competition. Recolight has pushed long and hard for this change, on
behalf of our 220 members.”
“The mechanism that the government has chosen to implement the change is particularly efficient:
rather than requiring many tens of thousands of non-UK companies to register for WEEE, they have instead placed that obligation on the small number of online marketplaces. That makes enforcement
by the UK environment agencies much more straightforward.”