Consumers in Britain would be able to have electrical waste (e-waste) collected from their homes or drop items off during a weekly shop under government plans to have producers and retailers pay for recycling. A consultation document published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) on December 28 said the measures are due to come into force in 2026, reports The Guardian.

The latest proposals build on efforts to grapple with the issue that the U.K. helped develop as a member of the EU. This included the Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive, which came into effect in 2012. As with other waste-related rules they follow a principle that the producer of the waste will foot the bill for its disposal, which the U.K. and EU have followed in areas such as plastic packaging.

The EU in 2023 adopted policy recommendations for member states to improve collection of recycled materials, although targets vary by country.

Post-Brexit, the U.K. has failed to keep pace with some EU regulatory efforts. The bloc is attempting to reduce e-waste with laws including a right to repair products, and requiring common chargers for phones (USB C) rather than Apple’s specialized lightning charger from 2024 onward. Cables, which are often hoarded as well as wrongly disposed of, are a major contributor to electronic waste.

A lack of effective recycling capacity in areas such as battery processing has also left the U.K. lagging behind European peers on a range of recycling rates.