Click here to go back to News listing.
On Monday the European Parliament environment committee met in Brussels to discuss a recast of the EU WEEE Directive and voted for a new WEEE recycling target. It was voted almost unanimously that the new WEEE recycling target should be at 85%.
The biggest challenge now is for the European Council and the Parliament to reach an agreement over how the targets should be calculated. The new target voted by the Parliament is well above the ones proposed by the Council ministers, which would require 45% of EEE materials to be collected by 2016, and 65% by 2020.
In particular, the Council, which brings together Europe’s environment ministers, believes new percentage-based collection targets should be introduced on a staged basis – with a first target of 45% for 2016, increasing to 65% in 2020. Which is perfectly understandable as it is virtually impossible to determine such an increase in WEEE collection and Recycling levels in a short period of time.
The targets proposed by the Council’s environment ministers are reasonable and perfectly achievable by any EU member state - including the UK.
EU Parliament and Council also differ in opinion with regards to the scope of the WEEE Directive, with the Parliament advocating an ‘open’ scope, bringing all WEEE under the auspices of the legislation, and some EU member states – the UK included – backing a category-based system.
Other proposals for the amendment of the Directive were also discussed by the MEPs’ committee which have been made by Karl-Heinz Florenz, German MEP responsible for steering the legislation through the European law-making process.
They were:
• Consumers being able to hand in “very small” WEEE to all but the smallest electrical shops for free;
• Setting higher recovery and recycling targets for individual items of WEEE – between 70-85% recovery goals and 50-75% recycling;
• Setting a new separate target for 5% of WEEE to be reused, which the Committee said would mean “that more functional goods get a new lease of life instead of being scrapped”;
• Ensuring producers and consumers should bear the costs of e-waste, not the general taxpayer;
• Doing more to cut out the “unnecessary administrative burdens and costs faced by companies”. For example, distance sellers should be able to report data to a central EU system, to avoid the extra red tape and expense of signing up for multiple national registers.
• Tackling illegal WEEE exports to the developing world by shifting the burden of proof to exporters to prove that electrical equipment being exported to non-OECD countries is fit for reuse and not just waste.
Commenting on the plans, Mr Florenz said:
“Collecting and recycling e-waste is good for the environment and good for the economy. Parliament’s ambitious but achievable targets will help recover valuable raw materials and cut the flow of e-waste to landfills, incinerators and developing countries.”
Mr Florenz proposals were presented on the draft report from August 2011. Monday’s meeting also tackled and proposed amendments to these proposals and a full final text of the report is not yet available.
A full plenary meeting of the European Parliament is now scheduled for January 2012 when these amendments will be voted. In the mean time EU Parliament and Council will hold informal meetings in a bid to reach an agreement over the proposed changes.
SHARE THIS:
| Tweet |