The European Parliament yesterday voted to ratify two tough new
Directives that introduce IT recycling rules in the EU. In a
last-minute change, the Parliament voted unanimously to ban printer
manufacturers forcing customers to buy own-brand ink refills.
The new regime makes individual producers responsible for
financing the waste treatment of their own products. Rapporteur
Karl-Heinz Florenz, who steered the legislation through Parliament,
said the new laws "meet the needs of consumers, environmentalists
and industry".
The Parliament inserted a "product design" article aimed at
preventing producers from getting round recycling rules by
designing products with "clever chips" to ensure that they cannot
be recycled, something which printer manufacturers have been
accused of when designing their ink cartridges.
The law comes into effect in 2006.
