A new European Union law requiring all large electronic retailers to take back old equipment came into force on Monday.
The new rules are part of a shake-up of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive and will gradually be implemented across the EU over the next seven years.
Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), is one the fastest growing waste streams in the EU, but currently only one-third of electrical and electronic waste is separately collected and appropriately treated. Systematic collection and proper treatment is essential for recycling materials like gold, silver, copper and rare metals in used TVs, laptops and mobile phones.
The revised directive will increase the collection target from its current 4kg per capita to around 20kg per capita by 2020. By 2020, it is estimated that the volume of WEEE will increase to 12 million tons and the EU authorities want to see at least 85% of that collected and treated. From 2018, the directive will be extended from its current restricted scope to all categories of electronic waste.
Meanwhile the retailer take-back plan means that by February 2014 at the latest, larger electrical goods stores, with a shop space of 400 square meters or larger, will have to accept small WEEE items, such as mobile phones, free of charge, without consumers having to purchase a new product.
The revised directive also includes a clampdown on illegal exports of waste electronic equipment. Equipment that is no longer under warranty can only be exported to non-OECD countries if it has been certified to be fully functional and sent properly.
IDG News Service