EU proposals aim to reduce electronic waste

From...

June 15, 2000
Web posted at: 8:43 a.m. EDT (1243 GMT)

by Elizabeth de Bony

(IDG) -- With an annual six million tons of electronic waste clogging Europe's dumps, the European Commission has proposed drastic measures to require producers to take back and recycle electrical and electronic equipment including computers, mobile phones, televisions, refrigerators and washing machines.

The proposals would also ban from 2008 the use of certain substances including, lead, mercury, cadmium and brominated flame retardants used widely in this equipment.

If the measures are approved by the European Union (EU) member states, consumers would be able to return their equipment free of charge to manufacturers who would have to set up separate collection and recycling systems for such waste. The proposal would apply to existing and new equipment.

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The Commission hopes to win approval from the member states within 18 months.

The proposals would require that by 2006 between 60 percent and 80 percent of a specific product range would be reused in some way or another. This would mean that the annual production of electronic waste would be slashed from the current six million tons to 1.5 million tons, according to EU Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstršm.

"This is our soft target," the Commissioner told a press conference, explaining that this would represent roughly four kilos of waste per citizen.

In line with the "polluter pays" principle, the EU plan also stipulates that producers would have to organize and finance the treatment, recovery and disposal of waste.

The proposals reflect growing concern within the EU over the growing mountains of waste that darken this heavily populated region. The Union introduced recycling requirements on all packaging in the early 1990s, and has just formally adopted legislation to require recycling of motor vehicles.

Electronic waste currently constitutes only four percent of total municipal waste, but it is growing by almost 30 percent every five years or three times as fast as the average growth of municipal waste, according to the Commission. Ninety percent of electronic waste currently ends up in disposal or shredding without any pre-treatment.

While acknowledging the growing problem of waste, European industry had lobbied hard against the proposal, particularly its coverage of existing or historical waste, warning that it would represent an enormous financial burden that would ultimately boost prices for consumers.

American industry and government had also expressed concern that the recycling requirements would put non-EU based producers at a disadvantage, and that the substance ban particularly as regards flame retardants could lower the safety of such products.

"If the products represent a fire hazard, they will not get into the US market," a source who asked not to be identified told IDG News Service Tuesday. He pointed out that the U.S. is currently debating how to deal with the waste itself.

Last minute changes to the proposals including separating the substance ban out into a separate text from the recycling requirements have momentarily left various industry associations and companies reluctant to comment on the proposals until they have seen the final texts.

Commissioner Wallstršm pushed the legislation through, claiming that it would add an average one percent to the cost of the equipment.

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'Eco-commerce' sites urge Americans to go green
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European Environment Agency

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