by Brianna Crandall — August 24, 2012—Improved rules on the collection and treatment of e-waste went into effect for Europe on August 13, announced the European Commission. E-waste (i.e. waste electrical and electronic equipment, or “WEEE”) is one the fastest-growing waste streams, and it offers substantial opportunities in terms of making secondary raw materials available on the market, notes the Commission. Systematic collection and proper treatment is a precondition for recycling materials like gold, silver, copper and rare metals in used TVs, laptops and mobile phones. Directive 20/EU is intended to be a clear step forward in terms of environmental protection and a major boost to resource efficiency in Europe.
As a tool to help businesses combat economic turmoil and rising prices for raw materials through resource efficiency, the new directive introduces a collection target of 45% of electronic equipment sold that will apply from 2016 and, as a second step from 2019, a target of 65% of equipment sold, or 85% of electronic waste generated. Member States will be able to choose which one of these two equivalent ways to measure the target they wish to report. From 2018, the directive will be extended from its current restricted scope to all categories of electronic waste, subject to an impact assessment beforehand.
The directive gives Member States the tools to fight the illegal export of waste more effectively. Illegal shipments of WEEE are a serious problem, reminds the Commission, especially when they are disguised as legal shipments of used equipment to circumvent EU waste treatment rules. The new Directive will require exporters to test whether equipment works or not, and provide documents on the nature of shipments that could be thought illegal.
Another expected improvement is the reduction of administrative burdens through harmonization of national registration and reporting requirements. Requirements by Member States’ registers for producers of e-waste will now be aligned more closely.
Currently only one-third of electrical and electronic waste in the EU is separately collected within the documented system, notes the Commission. The existing EU collection target is 4kg of WEEE per capita, representing about 2 million metric tons per year, out of around 10 million tons of WEEE generated annually in the EU. By 2020, it is estimated that the volume of WEEE will increase to 12 million tons. The final target of the new Directive, an ambitious 85% of all WEEE generated, will ensure that in 2020 around 10 million tons, or roughly 20kg per capita, will be separately collected in the EU.
