Since the 2013 Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations came into force there has been a reporting gap, between the weight of EEE sales and WEEE collection and treatment. The 2019 collection target for the UK looks challenging, with greater reliance on substantiated estimates to account for legitimate recycling outside of the mainstream system.

There have been a number of studies into the unreported reuse, collection, storage, treatment and disposal of WEEE (many delivered by this project team), at a relatively high level and focused on specific streams of collection and treatment. This is partly because, given their nature, unreported waste streams are challenging to characterize, engage with and quantify.