In a vote next Tuesday (May 15) on European Commission proposals published last year, the
European Parliament is likely to press for an annual target of 6 kg per head of population, against the 4 kg suggested by Brussels.
Strasbourg also says Europe should move more quickly to involve industry in recovery/recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).
As things stand, local authorities carry most of the cost of handling WEEE, much of which goes into poorly controlled municipal waste.
Agreement
Although timings will depend on how long it takes to secure final agreement on the Commission proposals, the Parliament's Environment Committee suggest that extended producer responsibility (EPR) – which is already being imposed on car manufacturers – should be introduced 30 months after the legislative is adopted, while the Commission talks about a 5-year interval.
Reports compiled by parliamentary committees cite 1998 data indicating that Europe generates about 6 million tonnes of WEEE each year, a volume expected to
grow by 3-5 per cent a year. Already this form of waste represents about 4 per cent of municipal waste.
However, adoption of the legislation will take time. After the first reading vote, the 15 EU governments will have to agree their own “common position”. If
ministers resist amendments suggested by Strasbourg, MEPs are likely to demand < />conciliation negotiations on the final version of the legislation. EU rules
allow MEPs and ministers to negotiate for up to six months.
Accompanying the WEEE proposal, a second draft Directive seeks to regulate future use by the electronics industry of environmentally harmful substances such as heavy metals and halogenated flame retardants. The Restrictions on Substances
(ROS) Directive is also likely be approved by MEPs.
Hazards
Aside from the more obvious hazards of lead, mercury and – in older products – asbestos, the legislation is also likely to deal with the hazards presented by
capacitors containing carcinogenic PCBs, batteries, printed circuit boards, toner cartridges and colour toner, cathode ray tubes and liquid crystal displays.
Spokeswoman for the Parliament's committee on trade and industry, Irish MEP Nuala Ahern says WEEE is one of the largest known sources of heavy metals and organic pollutants in the waste stream: “Without proper pre-treatment, the highly toxic components can contaminate soil and groundwater as well as polluting the air.
Already six EU states have presented legislation on this issue: the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Italy and Belgium. Finland and Germany are expected to do so soon.”
Mrs Ahern says the WEEE Directive will encourage 'ec;o-design' by forcing industry to consider the whole life cycle of a product and aspects such as durability, reparability or upgrading, disassembly and recycling.
But she complains that the proposed 4kg collection target will only cover about a quarter of WEEE:”In the UK, which does not have an advanced recycling culture and has no WEEE legislation in force as yet, the figure is already 6 kg per head thanks to new-for-old take-back schemes for white goods.”
Strasbourg will also discuss responsibility for historical waste – such as old appliances marketed by manufacturers no longer in business – and the activities of uncooperative producers/distributors happy to let the rest of industry provide them with a “free ride”.
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