Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said:
“Nobody wants to see old computers and
television sets piling up at the roadside and polluting the
environment. Therefore efficient collection and recycling/reuse is
necessary. Member States have agreed on ambitious legislation to
tackle the problems caused by rapidly growing amounts of E-waste.
But they also have to do the follow-up work and implement what they
have agreed."
The other countries receiving warning letters are: Estonia,
Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Malta and Poland. If any Member
State fails to comply with today's request, the Commission could
take it before the European Court of Justice, which could result in
financial penalties.
About the Directives
The Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE
Directive) was passed in 2002. It requires Member States to ensure
the establishment of systems for the collection of e-waste by
August 2005. Furthermore, they have to ensure its reuse, recovery
and recycling, and the sound disposal of the remaining waste. The
UK Government indicated in March that it will miss this deadline by
around five months
When the collection systems are in place, consumers will be able
to take these products back to shops and collection points for
free. The Directive also sets collection, re-use and recycling
targets and outlines the financial obligations of producers. A 2003
Directive amends the original WEEE Directive to further clarify
those obligations with regard to the financing of professional
(i.e. non-household) equipment.
The Directive on the Restriction of the Use of Hazardous
Substances (RoHS) was passed at the same time. It bans certain
hazardous substances from electronic equipment from 1st July 2006
onward to facilitate recycling, and to reduce emissions when the
remaining e-waste is landfilled or incinerated.
The banned substances include heavy metals and a number of
hazardous industrial chemicals. They can cause asthma and cancer,
and damage the brain, liver, kidneys and the nervous and
cardio-vascular systems.
According to the Commission, electro-scrap is the fastest
growing waste stream in the EU, growing at 3–5% per year, which is
three times faster than average waste. Each EU citizen currently
produces around 17–20 kg of e-waste per year. Some 90% of this
waste is still landfilled, incinerated, or recovered without any
pre-treatment. This allows the substances it contains to make their
way into soil, water and air where they pose a risk to human
health.
Implementation problems
The transposition of all three Directives was due before 13
August 2004. France, Italy and the UK have failed to transpose all
three Directives. Finland has not yet transposed the three
Directives in the province of Aland. Greece has transposed the
earlier WEEE and RoHS Directives, but not the amendment to the WEEE
Directive. Estonia, Malta and Poland have transposed the RoHS
Directive but not yet the WEEE Directive and its amendment.
The Commission has therefore sent final written warnings – the
last step before referral to the European Court of Justice – to the
eight Member States
When the UK missed the implementation deadline of August 2004 it
initially blamed difficulties in publishing the draft regulations
and guidance notes. It then promised to have the necessary laws in
place by October last year. It failed again. Then, on 24th March
2005, the DTI published an open
letter advising that “major practical difficulties” were still
holding it up.
