Confirmed 2026 household WEEE collection targets at 532,882 tonnes, a reduction on provisional figures
Defra has published the final household WEEE collection targets for 2026, setting a collection target of 532,882 tonnes – significantly lower than the original 550,902 tonnes published in the provisional targets (read about these here).
The final target represents a 4% increase on household WEEE collected and reported to the EA in 2025. The reduction from the provisional figure is due to both updated 2025 collection data and revised methodology following industry consultation.
Updated 2025 data showed a reduction in collection data, where the provisional targets were calculated using a 2025 revised figure of 526,460 tonnes. The final methodology document uses a corrected total of 514,164 tonnes.
This change was caused by market disruption where a treatment site lost its permit and was unable to raise evidence, meaning accurate data was not available at the time of consultation.
This corrected baseline has fed through to lower targets in several categories.
Category-by-category changes
- Category 14 (photovoltaic panels) saw the most significant revision. The provisional target of 2,761 tonnes, which was a significant uplift, has been revised and considerably pulled back to 1,845 tonnes in the final targets. Defra acknowledged concerns raised about unpredictable waste levels due to the long lifetimes of solar panels, limited recycling infrastructure, and the risk of illegal waste exports. They maintained that an ambitious target is needed to incentivise investment in treatment infrastructure as older solar panels comes to end of life.
- Category 13 (gas discharge lamps) attracted the most industry engagement with the provisional target of 3,270 tonnes, a 5.21% reduction on 2025 levels. The industry feedback highlighted a 11% fall in lamps placed on market in 2024 followed by a further 16% fall in 2025, and a 40% reduction in January 2026 compared to the same month the previous year. Defra has set a lower final target of 3,193 tonnes to reflect the ongoing phase-out of mercury-containing lamps in favour of LEDs.
- The Category 15 (vapes) target has been set at 288 tonnes, down from the 294 tonnes consulted on. This reduction reflects updated placed-on-market data. The proportion of small mixed WEEE collected relative to what is placed on the market dropped from 30% at the time of consultation to 24.9% once more recent figures became available. Defra has applied its standard 1.5% ambition uplift to this figure. Mixed consultation responses were highlighted where lower targets were called for given limited historic data, with one respondent arguing for a higher target on environmental grounds. The final figure represents a balanced starting point ahead of the first full year of separate vape collection reporting from August 2026.
- For Category 12 (cooling appliances), the provisional target stood at 150,718 tonnes which has been revised to 144,811 tonnes, reflecting the lower corrected baseline for 2025 collections.
- Category 1 (large household appliances) saw a downward shift, from a provisional 186,167 tonnes to a final target of 180,473 tonnes. This was consistent with 2025 collection levels and the view that scrap metal market conditions remain stable heading into 2026.
- For Categories 2-10 (for small mixed WEEE), the final total target of 153,821 tonnes compares to a provisional figure of 159,248 tonnes. Defra has again applied a 1.5 percentage point uplift above the three-year trend to reflect the impact of Material Focus awareness campaigns on householder recycling behaviour, consistent with last year's approach.
Reading between the lines: what do the targets mean relative to the market?
It is important to also consider how each target is represented as a proportion of the total volume of PoM in 2025.
Defra's figures show the percentage increase or decrease in collection targets compared to previous years' collection levels, but a different story is shown when comparing the target against total PoM. When looking at targets as a share of PoM, it gives a sense of how much of the equipment currently entering the market needs to be collected when viewed this way. When comparing the 2026 collection targets against 2025 PoM volumes, only a small number of categories see their collection rate as a proportion of PoM rise compared to last year. Large Household Appliances and Small Household Appliances both edge slightly higher at 0.4% and 1.3% respectively.
The majority of categories see collection rates dropping as a proportion of PoM.
Gas discharge lamps see the steepest decline at nearly 30%, reflecting the dramatic fall in lamps being placed on market. Toys, leisure, and sports and lighting equipment both decline by around 19% and 17% respectively, while IT and telecoms equipment, display equipment and electrical and electronic tools all fall by around 10-12%, suggesting that in several significant categories the 2026 targets may be becoming less demanding relative to the size of the market.
