On 27 January 2003, two Directives entered into force within the EU. The
first (RoHS) concerns constructional materials used for electrical and
electronic equipment and does not concern us here, except to mention that it
will cause far more environmental harm than it will ever prevent. The second
is Directive 2002/96/EC on "waste electrical and electronic equipment
(WEEE)"[Download].
Both directives are vaguely worded and are quite open to interpretation and
may be expected to be the subject of considerable debate.
The general purpose behind WEEE is to reduce the risk of pollution caused
by electrical equipment being disposed of by being deposited within a
landfill or by other means. As such, this is laudable. Instead, it should be
recycled to a maximum. This maximum, to be attained by 31 December 2006,
varies, by weight, from 70% (for small household equipment and similar) to
80% (for large household appliances and dispensers). Components removed from
the equipment benefit from reduced percentages; for example, a PC should be
recycled to 75% but a graphics card taken from it should be recycled to 65%.
The fact that the latter is impossible to achieve does not appear to have
fazed the rulemakers!
One of the main points of this Directive is contained within Article 5.
Briefly summarised, this states inter alia:
- Member States (i.e., including Cyprus) must implement measures to
achieve a high level of separate collection of WEEE
- By 13 August 2005, systems are set up to ensure free-of-charge
collection of WEEE from private households
- Distributors (i.e., retail shops) are obliged to take back on a
one-to-one basis old appliances when a customer purchases a new one of
equivalent type
- Producers may set up their own take-back systems from private
households
- Collected WEEE should average at least 4 kg per inhabitant per year
from private households by 31 December 2006
- Member States are obliged to transpose the Directives into national
law by 13 August 2005.
I find that one of the controversial points is the 4 kg/inhabitant/year
rule. Cyprus is a country with large families, often with minimal incomes.
It is one thing for a professional childless couple always buying the latest
gadgets and changing them regularly to produce 8 kg of waste electrics per
year, but it is grossly unfair to expect families with 4 children with only
a small fridge and a TV set to produce 24 kg/year, every year.
So, has Cyprus transposed the Directives? This is what I found:
CYPRUS
TRANSPOSITION OF THE WEEE AND RoHS DIRECTIVES: CURRENT STATUS
Regulation 68-204 transposing the RoHS and WEEE Directives was approved by
Parliament on 30 July 2004
Financing of WEEE from households:
Producers, not local authorities, are required to finance collection and
sorting as well as transportation and treatment of WEEE from households.
Local authorities are not obliged to collect WEEE.
National Register:
Producers must register with the Environment Service of the Ministry of
Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment.
System requirements:
A joint system is to be approved by the Environment Committee, which
consists of representatives of several Ministries.
RECOVERY ORGANISATIONS (COMPLIANCE SYSTEMS)
No meetings have as yet been scheduled to prepare for implementation of the
new Regulation.
There are no producers of electronic equipment in Cyprus.
Let's look at the last sentence first. There are no producers of
electronic equipment in Cyprus. Even this is not strictly accurate, there
are possibly a few tens of companies producing electronic equipment on the
island, albeit in small quantities. However, it's clear we have no Siemens,
Sony or Dell factories on the island. These companies, that do not
apparently exist, still have to register with the MANRE, as well as finance
the collection and sorting of the WEEE. However, life is not quite that
simple; the Directive defines a "producer" as "any person who, irrespective
of the selling technique used, including by means of distance communication
...:
(i) manufactures and sells electrical and electronic equipment under his own
brand,
(ii) resells under his own brand equipment produced by other suppliers, a
reseller not being regarded as the 'producer' if the brand of the producer
appears on the equipment, as provided for in subpoint (i), or
(iii) imports or exports electrical and electronic equipment on a
professional basis into a Member State."
So, by this definition, there are many "producers" in Cyprus and the
Government simply has got it wrong. Quite apart from the fact that any
astute lawyer could drive a horse and cart through this definition (and many
other points in the Directive), my first reaction on reading the
Transposition document is that the Government is paying lip service to the
Directives but are weaseling out of seriously implementing them. "No
meetings have as yet been scheduled to prepare for implementation of the new
Regulation." Yet the system must be in place by 13 August 2005. How can
this be?
There is another point that needs examination. Some WEEE will contain
metals and other substances that must be considered as very toxic. These
will have no market value on the island, nor are there any means of safely
disposing of them. Whether the waste is recycled on the island or not, these
toxic materials must be disposed of safely but they will be classed as
hazardous waste. This implies they will have to be exported. This will also
mean
that they come under the aegis of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal [Download].
The cost of complying with this will not be insignificant. To give you an
idea of the size of this problem, virtually all electronic and some
electrical equipment contains lead and lead compounds (some contain even
more toxic metals, such as arsenic and cadmium) and will automatically be
considered as hazardous waste when taken out of service. Even if the lead
were separated out, it will be impure and will still be hazardous waste when
sent elsewhere for re-use.
Three years later
So, where are we in 2008 with WEEE? Honestly, not well advanced.
If you go to a dealer to buy a new mobile phone, fridge or washing
machine, it is rare he will offer to take your old one. (Happily, there are
some who do!) In fact, they are obliged to and should not even need to be
asked. There is a specialised recycling company in Strovolos and they have
placed bins outside their gates for people to dump their old equipment, so
there is some small progress. However, small electrical appliances
inevitably will find their way into household garbage and thus to landfills
not designed to receive them. Larger appliances can still be seen in fly
dumps.
The government are lacking in fulfilling their commitments. "By 13 August 2005, systems are set up to ensure free-of-charge
collection of WEEE from private households". Has this been
done? Have municipalities arranged for either kerb-side collections or
central collection points? Not really, at least on an island-wide basis. As
for the per capita 4 kg collected per annum, this is still ludicrous.
It is time the government really faced their responsibilities: we are
likely to receive a stern warning from Brussels, followed by a swingeing
fine. This will not happen before 2010 but the groundwork should be done
now, if we are to avoid trouble.