European Parliament Reviews WEEE Directive

Following a review on electronic waste policies it now apparent that the European Union is tightening regulations on what is allowed with disposal of electronic waste. For quite some time there has been quite a vibrant debate as to whether WEEE should be aligned with packaging regulations and create percentage targets for business and businesses and companies to adhere to. Many EU members as well as the UK have been opposed to these changes as the alignment would require producers to collect 65% of the weight of new electrical equipment placed on the market. But it seems the European Parliament have created a much tougher target. New WEEE regulations rnThe European Parliament has now voted for member states to collect 85% of the electrical waste they produce from 2016. It also proposes a 2012 target: Member States should collect 4 kg of electrical waste per inhabitant (as under existing rules) or the weight of electrical waste collected in 2010, whichever is greater.rnIn order for these proposals to be accepted they must be agreed in the first instance by the Council of Ministers. The draft Regulations will then be created. It is felt that if the suggested amendments are agreed substantial changes will need to be made to the current UK WEEE Regulations which could result in considerably higher costs for WEEE producers. In line with the WEEE regulations 100% of electrical equipment should currently be recycled but this obviously isn’t always the case with the general public who are not always aware of their responsibility and electrical items can end up in general waste. There are a number of additional points under review including a new 5% reuse ‘goal’ and a proposal to reduce the number of electrical equipment categories to help simply the administrative burden of WEEE. Statistics confirm need for change However, the reasons for the enhanced targets appear to be based on recent research. According to TCO certified, the E-waste stream is growing at a rate three times faster than the overall waste stream. The organisation said that researchers estimate that the amount of global E-waste will be close to 73 billion kg annually by 2015. Statistics show that only a tiny amount of the E-waste produced today is recycled responsibly Computers and office electronics account for 40 percent of lead and 70 percent of heavy metals, including mercury and cadmium, in landfills. The EU parliament review also addressed the continuing problem of large quantities of e-waste being falsely declared as ‘reusable' and illegally exported to developing countries. In order to ensure these shipments are reduced, they want stricter inspections of deployments, as well as ensuring the exporter should carry the burden of proof that the goods are actually reusable.