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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2017 to Question 115085, whether for energy meters to which the Waste Electrical and Electronic Regulations apply provision exists under the duty of care for such meters to be disposed of in the event that the original manufacturer cannot be verified.

Guidance for producers published by the Environment Agency states that digital utility meters are within the scope of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013. Analogue utility meters are out of scope.

Where energy suppliers, their installation contractors, or meter asset providers acting on their behalf remove meters and intend to discard them as waste (through disposal, recycling or preparation for re-use), because the original manufacturer cannot be verified, they must comply with the waste duty of care legislation. If they do not intend to discard the meters as waste then the waste duty of care legislation does not apply.