Europe set for higher WEEE recycling targets and Cylch response (20.01.12)

 

 
source: letsrecycle

 

Plans to introduce higher targets for the collection of waste electrical & electronic equipment (WEEE) and to allow consumers to return electrical goods to retailers were confirmed by MEPs in a vote in the European Parliament today (January 19).

 

As reported an agreement had been reached in December between members of the European Parliament, European Commission and the European Council that MEPs would vote in favour of a staged target for the collection of WEEE (see letsrecycle.com story).

 

MEPs today agreed to update the WEEE Directive at a plenary session in Strasbourg.

 

The updated directive now requires formal approval from the Council of Ministers, and will then enter the Official Journal of the European Communities, at which point it will become law.  EU member states will have 18 months to update their national legislation to comply with the changes.

 

 

The new targets that have been agreed will require member states to increase their WEEE collection rates above the current target of 4kg per person. As of 2016, 45 tonnes of WEEE will need to be collected for every 100 tonnes put onto the market in the three preceding years. These targets will then rise further in 2019 to a rate of 65 tonnes from every 100 put onto the market.

 

Rapporteur Karl-Heinz Florenz said: “After difficult negotiations I am very satisfied that we have agreed ambitious but achievable collection rates with Council. Europe will now recover more raw materials, which is excellent news both for the economy and the environment.”

 

 

The Parliament has also confirmed proposals for a retailer take-back scheme, whereby consumers can take small WEEE items to an electrical retailer free of charge, without having to purchase a new product. This scheme will apply to retailers of electrical goods with a shop space of 400 sq metres or larger.

 

MEPs also agreed on tougher restrictions on the illegal expert of WEEE, to prevent waste electricals from being processed in countries where conditions are hazardous to workers and the environment. It will now be the responsibility of exporters to prove that goods are being shipped abroad for repair or reuse.

 

Speaking after the vote, European commissioner for the environment Janez Poto?nik, said: "Today's decision by the European Parliament is good news for health of our citizens, Europe's competitiveness, and the environment. In these challenging times of economic change and rising prices for raw materials, resource efficiency is where environmental benefits and innovative growth opportunities for European industry come together.

 

"The waste stream with the greatest relevance in this respect is electrical and electronic waste. Today, the European Parliament has given a great boost to this policy, raising the binding collection levels to 85% by 2019. I hope this will encourage some Member States to be more ambitious, and meet the new targets even sooner than this deadline."

 

 

The new WEEE Regs are 3 small steps forward, 1 very big step back.

 

The European Parliament has been voting on revisions to the WEEE regulations and improvements to recycling targets have been agreed as well as important efforts to curb illegal export of WEEE and improvements to consumers ability to take back unwanted electrical items to shops. But recycling targets alone do absolutely nothing to stem over-consumption of raw materials and precious resources in a Europe that is consuming 3 planets worth of resources per capita (based on ecological footprint). Targets based on increasing % of recycling collections against every tonne of new EEE sold onto the market do nothing for waste prevention and sustainable consumption. These targets, in that sense, are very short-sighted.

 

The missing element of a ‘preparing for reuse’ target alongside the recycling targets is a massive gap in tackling the problem of electrical waste ‘at source’ – that is longer lasting products and consumer choices that delays a products ‘end of life’. The historical lack of a reuse target has already undermined the reuse of electrical equipment since the WEEE Regulations were introduced. Economies of scale in collecting and treating WEEE have driven more and more usable product down the waste hierarchy - downcycling instead of upcycling! With recycling targets being achieved the result has been a loss of usable product and loss of product value to local economies and local communities who could otherwise benefit from the reuse of pre-owned electricals. The ecological footprint and carbon savings of handling WEEE more sustainably for reuse have also been damaged through this grave omission. 

 

Cylch hopes that future research and revisions to the WEEE Regulations will see the ‘long-game’, which will see citizens increasingly demanding services that support local economies and social benefit and not just continued consumerism, and that investors will take account of this and continue to support development of reuse facilities - while the European Parliament catches up with the environmental and social need to reduce consumption.

 

Read more about Richard's work on the Reuse and Repair Network.