The WEEE compliance scheme REPIC which acts on behalf of a consortium of manufacturers has been ordered to pay full costs, which could be as much as £1 million, to the defendants in the judicial review that the company unsuccessfully pursued this year.
It has emerged that the company was told last week that it had to cover all the costs accrued during the legal process by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), the Environment Agency (EA), the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.
After REPIC’s decided not to appeal the court decision, the scheme has now been made liable for the costs, which are believed to include barristers fees and charges for the services of the Treasury Solicitor.
A spokesman for BIS said: “We hope that this very much ends the matter and that we can draw a line under events and now move the UK WEEE system forward.”
His sentiments were echoed by Adrian Harding, WEEE policy advisor Environment Aagency, who said: “We have been awarded full costs and that reinforces the fact that the Court found in our favour and confirmed our understanding of the regulations.
“The WEEE Regulations are delivering important environmental outcomes. Less used electrical equipment is going to landfill as more is diverted for reuse and recycling”.
REPIC seem to now be faced with two choices, either look to reduce the size of its manufacturer membership to make it easier for it to reach its obligations or, it could look to establish long-term contractual deals with other WEEE schemes to secure the evidence it needs that hold large surplus of evidence.
REPIC have so far made no comment on the matter.