Although the UK has postponed implementation of the WEEE Directive until June 2006, several other countries within the EU implemented legislation on the recycling of electronic equipment.
And ERP – the compliance scheme founded by Braun/Gillette, Electrolux, Hewlett Packard and Sony – has already begun its take-back and recycling operations across Europe.
Collections have been up and running in Austria, Ireland, Portugal and Spain since Europe's original “WEEE Day” of August 13.
Advantages
A statement from ERP said it was the first WEEE compliance scheme to be permitted and launching operations in multiple European countries, “and therefore the first scheme to pass on the advantages of multinational logistic and recycling operations to the consumer.”
ERP has also said that it has plans in place for the five other countries in the scope of the compliance scheme – France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the UK. ERP is now waiting for specific requirements in the national legislations of the remaining countries to be finalised.
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The four member companies hold a 14% share of the European WEEE market and have long pushed for a standardised approach across Europe. The overall share of the compliance scheme is likely to be a lot higher though with companies such as Elica, Logitech, Lucent, Omron, Saeco, Samsung, Toshiba and Varta/Remington among their members.
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