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 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. Some parts of the EU are peopled 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.
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 in the smaller Member States, nor are there any means of safely
disposing of them. Whether the waste is recycled locally 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 made before 2006 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. 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 governments 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 in some places. As
for the per capita 4 kg collected per annum, this is still ludicrous.
It is time the governments really faced their responsibilities.