Government should include re-use targets in WEEE regulations

At a meeting of the Associate Parliamentary Sustainable Waste Group in Westminster this week, delegates discussed the importance of waste minimisation in meeting the UK's various waste targets.

The second stage of consultation on implementing the WEEE Directive finished at the end of May 2003. The Directive must be implemented in European Member states by August 2004.

Martin Gibson, director of Envirowise, the government's programme designed to help companies reduce their costs by minimising waste at source told the APSWG meeting that much more value would be gained from re-using components in WEEE.

He said: “If you look at recycling electronic waste, you will get about 15 per tonne for just shredding it. But if you get the components that are valuable and re-use them before recycling the rest of the material, you can raise that to about 45 a tonne. That is what we should be doing.”

While there are re-use targets tied up with recycling targets in the WEEE Directive, re-use organisations present at the meeting called for clear, specific re-use targets for both components and whole items to be included in regulations for the UK.

The environment minister Michael Meacher, also present at the meeting, said that he thought the Directive already called for the re-use of WEEE components, but added that he would “look into” the regulations for re-using whole items.

Summit
The Associate Parliamentary Sustainable Waste Group is to hold a one-day summit to debate the strategic issues and forecasted impacts of the implementation of Producer Responsibility legislation in the UK.

Held on Tuesday 17th June in Portcullis House, Westminster, speakers at the summit will include Patricia Hewitt, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Sir John Harman, chairman of the Environment Agency, Janet Asherson, head of environment at the CBI; Dr Mark Downs, head of recycling at the DTI; Otto Linher, DEG Environment, European Commission and Lord Woolmer of Leeds.

Jeff Cooper, head of producer responsibility at the Environment Agency, who will also be addressing the conference, said: “The Packaging Regulations were implemented in 1997 as the first of the UK’s statutory producer responsibility initiatives. The Agency and industry has had considerable problems with a number of issues, including: data, monitoring and accreditation of reprocessors and exporters.
These will be examined at the Summit and lessons learned will be assessed in the context of the forthcoming implementation of the ELV and WEEE Directives.”

Details about this event are available from the Parliamentary Sustainable Waste Group tel: 020 7723 8947, fax: 020 7723 5712, email: clare.coghill@pswg.org.uk.