Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help ensure electronic waste is safely disposed.

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations 2013 are founded on the principle of Extended Producer Responsibility, which requires the producers of electrical and electronic equipment to take responsibility for the environmental impact of the products they place on the market when they become waste. Under the WEEE Regulations, the cost of the collection, transport and subsequent environmentally sound treatment and recycling of household waste is financed by producers through membership of a Producer Compliance Scheme.

Electrical and electronic equipment is part of our Circular Economy Growth Plan which considers the evidence for action right across the economy and what interventions may be needed. We intend to publish the Circular Economy Growth Plan soon.