The agreement set a target of 4kg per inhabitant per year for the separate collection of waste electronics from private households, with all costs from the collection, treatment, re-use and recycling to be covered by the producers (see letsrecycle.com story).
The Parliament has also published the text of the agreement made on the related Directive, Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS). Four heavy metals – lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium – and the brominated flame retardants PBB and PBDE were banned by the agreement, a ban which will act from 1 July 2006.
- To view the full text of the WEEE agreement, click here.
- To view the full text of the RoHS agreement, click here.
- You may need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the document.
Meanwhile, the European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-sized enterprises (UEAPME), which represents small businesses at European level, has strongly criticised the agreements. It believes that by giving small and large manufacturers the same length of time to implement the directive, the agreements have not recognised the difficulties small businesses will face.
UEAPME also said that the adoption of a financial guarantee system to take account of “orphan waste” (waste whose manufacturer is no longer in business) will also hand small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) additional financial burdens.
Hans Werner Mueller, UEAPME's secretary general said: “This is just another illustration of the discrepancy that exists between the very often mentioned role of SMEs in EU official statements and the outcome of the EU decision making process. If you praise SMEs' role in the European economy, you have to take decisions accordingly.”
He added: “It doesn’t make sense to talk about greater competitiveness and take decisions like this one.”
The European Parliament and the Council of Ministers now need to give a final approval to the agreements, and the directives are due to be implemented at a national level by EU Member States by mid-2004.
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