Committees

Electronic Waste and the Circular Economy

Inquiry

The Environmental Audit Committee re-launched an inquiry into Electronic Waste and the Circular Economy on Friday 13 March. This inquiry will explore how the UK could reduce its environmental impact, create economic opportunities and maintain access to critical materials by better managing and minimising its e-waste.

Evidence submitted to the inquiry in the previous Parliament will be carried forward, but the Committee welcomes any additional written evidence on some, or all, of the following points:

Implementing a Circular Economy for Electronic Goods

  • What steps are being taken to move towards a circular economy for electronic goods? How can the UK Government support this transition?
  • What is the environmental and human health risk from e-waste? How significant is it and who is most at risk?
  • How can secondary markets for electrical goods be improved? What incentives are required to implement these markets?
  • Why does recovering materials from electronic waste pose a significant challenge? What support is required to facilitate the adoption of recovery technologies?

UK’s Electronic Waste Sector

  • Are UK Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) collection targets achievable? What challenges do UK producer compliance schemes and WEEE reprocessors face in meeting the collection targets?
  • What causes fraud in the UK’s e-waste system? How can this be addressed?
  • What action can the UK Government take to prevent to the illegal export of e-waste to the developing world?
  • What proposals does the UK Government need to consider as part of its consultation on WEEE?
  • Is UK public awareness of e-waste recycling satisfactory? If not, how can it be improved?

Read the call for evidence for more information about this inquiry.

Read an interactive summary of our report.

Upcoming events

View all events

No upcoming events scheduled

Past events

Thursday 17 September 2020
10:30am Private
11:00am Public
Electronic Waste and the Circular Economy - Oral evidence 17 September 2020
11:00am
  • Rebecca Pow MP (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
  • Chris Preston (Deputy Director of Waste and Recycling at Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs)
  • Malcolm Lythgo (Deputy Director of Waste Enforcement and Regulation at Environment Agency)
Virtual meeting
Thursday 16 July 2020
2:00pm Private
2:30pm Public
Electronic Waste and the Circular Economy - Oral evidence 16 July 2020
2:30pm
  • Kevin Consindine (Head of Sustainability at Samsung)
  • Eva Gouwens (CEO at Fairphone)
  • Andrew Mullen (Head of Quality and sustainability for the UK and Ireland at Beko)
3:30pm
  • Robert ter Kuile (Worldwide Director of Environmental Affairs at Amazon)
  • Matthew Manning (Compliance and Recycling Operations Manager at DixonsCarphone)
  • Astrid Wynne (Sustainability Manager at TechBuyer)
Virtual meeting
Thursday 25 June 2020
2:00pm Private
2:30pm Public
Electronic Waste and the Circular Economy - Oral evidence 25 June 2020
2:30pm
  • Heather McFarlane (Project Manager at Fidra)
  • Jim Puckett (Executive Director and Founder at Basel Action Network)
  • Libby Peake (Head of Resource Policy at Green Alliance)
3:30pm
  • Martyn Allen (Technical Director at Electrical Safety First)
  • Susanne Baker (Associate Director for climate, environment and sustainability at techUK)
  • Ugo Vallauri (Co-founder and Policy Lead at The Restart Project)
The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House
Thursday 11 June 2020
9:30am Public
Electronic Waste and the Circular Economy - Oral evidence 11 June 2020
9:30am
  • Gurbaksh Badhan (Chair at National Association of Waste Disposal Officers)
  • Phil Conran (Chair at Approved Authorised Treatment Facilities Forum)
  • Lee Marshall (CEO at The Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee)
10:30am
  • Scott Butler (Executive Director at Material Change)
  • Louise Grantham (Representative at Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment Scheme Forum)
  • Adrian Hawkes (Representative at Distributor Take-back scheme)
Virtual meeting

Contact us

We receive a significant number of emails each day. All requests and invitations are considered but we do not respond directly to everyone. Please be aware, the committee does not look at individual cases or specific complaints.

  • Email: eacom@parliament.uk
  • Address: Environmental Audit Committee, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA