After much
haggling and gnashing of teeth, MEPs (that’s Members of the European Parliament) have finally hashed out a deal to help, well, deal with the growing e-waste crisis on the Continent. The
Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (known by the fun-to-say acronym WEEE), finally approved on January 19th, “obliges EU countries to collect up to 85% of junked refrigerators, mobile phones, computers and other electronic products by 2019 for recycling, replacing a current system based on weight.” More specifically, “While the 85% target is an ultimate goal, the legislation imposes a recovery target of 45% of new electronic sales in 2016 and 65% in 2019 and gives newer EU members extra time to comply.”
One of the advantages of the new directive is that it is designed to replace the no fewer than 27 different standards for e-waste across the EU. It is also designed to reduce the exporting of e-waste.
Environmental groups say the new WEEE Directive (see? Read that aloud; it’s fun!) doesn’t go far enough.
“Collection targets have been delayed and the introduction of economic instruments for greener design, reuse targets and ambitious recycling targets have been left to a future revision, which is a bitter blow to the environment and Europe’s economic development,” said Stéphane Arditi, senior policy officer for the European Environmental Bureau.
Also, too:
“This places the burden squarely on private enterprises and is simply not acceptable,” the European craft and small business employers’ group EUAPME said in a statement.
About Richard Romano
Richard Romano is Managing Editor of WhatTheyThink. He curates the Wide Format section on WhatTheyThink.com. He has been writing about the graphic communications industry for more than 25 years. He is the author or coauthor of more than half a dozen books on printing technology and business. His most recent book is “Beyond Paper: An Interactive Guide to Wide-Format and Specialty Printing.
