EC Proposes Revising Environmental Laws on Electrical, Electronic Equipment
December 5, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS
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On Dec. 3, the European Commission (EC) proposed revising Directive 2002/96/EC on waste electrical and electronic equipment (the "WEEE Directive") and Directive 2002/95/EC on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (the "RoHS Directive").
The EC's objectives are to improve the implementation and enforcement of laws on electrical and electronic equipment and cut unnecessary administrative burden.
The two directives have been in force since 2004, but the EC maintains there is room for further improvement and simplification.
The proposed directives set higher but more flexible targets on the collection and recycling of electrical and electronic equipment and introduce greater coherence with other European Union (EU) legislation.
"As modern society increasingly relies on electrical and electronic equipment, it is very important that they have as little impact on the environment as possible. Making sure that certain hazardous substances do not find their way into these products and that they are properly collected and recycled when no longer used is absolutely vital," said Stavros Dimas, EC environment commissioner.
"This is an opportunity for EU companies to innovate and have access to valuable raw materials as the EU seeks to maintain its leadership role in becoming a resource-efficient economy which minimises the products' environmental and health effects throughout their life-cycle."
Too few products collected and recycled
EU legislation to restrict the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment and to promote the collection and recycling of such equipment has been in operation since August 2004.
More than four years later, only about one-third of electrical and electronic waste is reported to be treated in line with these laws, and the other two-thirds is going to landfills and potentially to substandard treatment sites in or outside the EU.
The EC finds this worrisome, not only because the EU is losing out on valuable secondary raw materials, but especially because inadequately treated products pose major environmental and health risks.
The illegal trade to non-EU countries continues to be widespread. Moreover, many electrical and electronic products not complying with official substance restrictions have been found in the EU.
Legislation on electrical and electronic equipment has proved difficult to implement and enforce by market players and public authorities. Therefore, the EC has proposed measures to address these difficulties and reduce the cost of putting into effect the revised directives.
New collection and recycling targets and greater coherence
One objective of the proposed directives is to develop a better regulatory environment, one that is simple, understandable, effective and enforceable. The scope and definitions of both directives would thus be clarified.
The proposed directives would also improve their compatibility with other EU legislation, such as the Waste Framework Directive, Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restrictions of Chemicals (REACH) and the recent Marketing of Products package. They would enhance the implementation and enforcement of current provisions and lessen the administrative burden on businesses.
It is estimated that savings under the proposed revised directives would amount to some €66 million. The directives also seek to better control the illegal trade of electrical and electronic equipment.
The proposed revised RoHS Directive would cover medical devices as well as monitoring and control instruments. A list of priority substances posing particular environmental concerns when used in electrical and electronic equipment will be assessed in line with REACH, with a view to a possible ban in the future.
Complying with the requirements of the RoHS Directive will also be made easier with the introduction of the CE label for electrical and electronic equipment.
Under the new WEEE Directive, registration and reporting obligations for producers would be harmonized and national registers would be made interoperable. A new binding target for the collection of electrical and electronic equipment would also be set.
The current collection target of 4 kilograms per person per year does not properly reflect the situation in individual EU member states. Some member states, where the consumption of electrical and electronic equipment is widespread, would have more ambitious targets under the new directive, while others with smaller markets would have less ambitious targets.
The EC proposed to differentiate the targets by setting mandatory collection targets equal to 65% of the average weight of electrical and electronic equipment placed on the market over the two previous years in each member state.
The recycling and recovery targets of such equipment now include the re-use of whole appliances, and weight-base targets will increase by 5%.
The EC also proposed to set targets for the recovery of medical devices.
Further information
For more information, see the EC web page on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment.
Source: European Commission.