On 13 October 2025, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) launched a consultation on the proposed use of a compliance fee for 2025 under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations 2013.
This consultation invites views on whether a compliance fee should be set for 2025, and whether the proposed methodology meets the Government’s published evaluation criteria. Below, we summarise what’s being proposed, why it matters, and how you can respond.
What is being proposed?
The WEEE Regulations require producers of electrical and electronic equipment to finance the collection, treatment, recovery and recycling of WEEE from private households.
Producer Compliance Schemes (PCSs) are set annual collection targets based on the tonnage of electrical equipment placed on the market. When a PCS is unable to meet its collection target, the Secretary of State may approve a compliance fee methodology, allowing schemes to comply by making a financial contribution instead.
Defra’s latest consultation seeks stakeholder feedback on:
- Whether a compliance fee should be set for the 2025 compliance period.
- Whether the proposed methodology satisfies the evaluation criteria, including fairness, cost reflectivity, environmental incentive, implementation arrangements and governance.
The proposal, developed by industry stakeholders and supported by consultancy analysis, largely retains the approach used in recent years. It also continues to include the “Reuse Adjustment Premium”, a mechanism designed to incentivise reuse of electrical equipment before recycling.
Why this matters
The compliance fee mechanism provides flexibility within the WEEE system. It ensures producers remain financially responsible even when national collection targets are not fully achieved.
The consultation also signals Defra’s ongoing focus on strengthening the link between producer responsibility and the circular economy, supporting greater reuse and recycling of household electrical goods, and fairer distribution of compliance costs across the sector.
For producers, compliance schemes, recyclers, reuse operators and other stakeholders, this consultation represents an important opportunity to shape how responsibility and cost-sharing will operate in 2025 and beyond.
Key dates & next steps
- The consultation opened on 13 October 2025
- Submissions must be made by 10 November 2025
- Defra expects to publish results by 30 January 2026
Stakeholders wishing to contribute can access the consultation via the Defra Citizen Space platform under “WEEE Compliance Fee Methodology 2025”.
