DEFRA is
currently drafting legislation to enact
recent amendments to the European Waste
Catalogue (1). The EU required enforcement
in the UK 1st January 2002.
Discarded electrical and
electronic equipment containing cathode
ray tube glass, mercury switches, or lead
and Ni-Cad batteries will be classified
as hazardous waste. All hazardous waste
producer sites will require to be registered
with the Environment Agency.
ICER have estimated (2)
that, in the UK, 398,000 tonnes per annum
of data processing and electronic office
equipment are disposed of annually and that
only 25% of this is recycled, the remainder
going to land fill. In the European Union,
the total for post consumer waste electrical
and electronic equipment is estimated to
be about 7 million tonnes per annum.
The EU Environment Directorate,
DG ENV, has proposed reuse and recycling
and minimising the negative environmental
impacts linked to the disposal of WEEE containing
certain pollutants, including cadmium, chromium
(6+), lead, mercury and halogenated fire
retardant. The Council of Ministers agreed
a Common position on the WEEE Directive
on 7th June 2001 and was presented to Parliament
in the Autumn Session. European legislation
is expected to progress quickly with UK
legislation soon to follow.
References
1. European Commission
Decision 2001/118/EEC of 16th January 2001
as regards list of wastes chapter 16, section
02/13.
2. Arisings of end of life
electrical and electronic equipment - ICER,
March 1998.
3. All copyright is acknowledged.
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