Electronics Legislation in Europe and Infrastructure in Ireland

• RoHS Directive• WEEE Directive– Irelands B2C System– Irelands B2B System

• Research at UL• EuP Directive

RoHS Directive

• RoHS – Restriction of Hazardous Substances in EEE• Pb, Hg, Cd, Cr, Polybrominated Biphenyls (PBBs)and

Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs)• Compliance Deadline: July 1st, 2006• All EU countries have implemented RoHS• Impacts entire supply chain of products sold in the EU

WEEE Directive• Came into force in 2003, and Member States

had to transpose them into national legislation by 13 August 2004

• Recycling and Recovery Program which imposes recovery and recycling targets of 4kg per person per year (B2C only)

• B2B WEEE does not count towards recycling target

• Direct legal liability likely for – Import EEE into the EU– Have brand name on EEE sold in the EU– Transfer WEEE between the individual member states

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyuAmJevr44

WEEE Governance

• Compliance schemes in Ireland– WEEE Ireland, ERP

• WEEE Ireland is a not for profit organisation, founded by Producers of electrical and electronic appliances in order to comply with the legal obligations imposed by the WEEE

• WEEE Ireland will organise for the treatment and recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment and batteries and accumulators from authorised collection points, on behalf of its producer members.

Ireland’s B2C WEEE System (Formal Channels)

• Civic Amenity (CA) Site: User can drop computer off directly at a CA Site (no fee). WEEE is segregated from other municipal waste and stored in special WEEE cages

• Retailer: If the product was bought after the 13th August 2005 (new WEEE) the user can return it directly to the retailer premises free of charge. If the product was purchased before the 13th August 2005, retailers generally accept the item on a like for like basis (i.e. a consumer purchase of a similar product is required before unwanted item take-back can occur for no fee)

• Curb side Collection: Select days of the year are nominated where old equipment is collected from directly outside people’s homes. This generally happens in suburban estates at the outskirts of a town/city.

• Open Days: Select days of the year are nominated where old equipment is collected at designated areas. Open days happen in largely populated areas where inhabitants have easy access to a skip/collection container etc. Open days are usually organised by compliance schemes working in conjunction with local authorities.

WEEE System• For B2C WEEE in Ireland once the product is returned to the original retailer or is

collected via curb side collection/open day it ultimately makes its way a dismantling facility.

• EEE only undergoes partial preparation for recycling in Ireland as recycling down to virgin materials requires economies of scale. This is achieved in mainland Europe where there exists much larger recycling facilities.

• During 2007 77% of the WEEE material collected was processed for treatment on the island of Ireland. Waste brokers act as the conjugate between the recycling/disassembly facility and the various tiers of recycling usually carried out in various locations across the UK and mainland Europe.

• In 2010, Ireland boasted one of the highest recovery targets within the European Union (EU), recovering 9.8kg per person which was greater than twice the required target.

Limerick City and County Collection (B2C)

CRT (tonnes)

IT (tonnes)

LDA (tonnes)

LDA COLD

(tonnes)

Mixed WEEE

(tonnes)

TOTAL (tonnes)

Total Civic amenities 161.652 14.302 179.399 51.938 203.197 610.488

Total Retailers 15.354 0.000 189.058 54.017 9.184 267.613

Total SPECIAL EVENTS 23.078 1.446 8.164 4.101 18.940 55.729

Total LIMERICK COUNTY COUNCIL 200.084 15.748 376.621 110.056 231.321 933.830

Table 1: 2010 WEEE recovery figures for Limerick City and County

White Goods

Mixed WEEE

B2B WEEE Operator

Rehab Recycle

Established in 1984

Multi-national company

Recycling solutions – Ireland, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands and Poland. In

Ireland, Rehab Recycle has a nationwide presence, with bases in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Naas.

B2B WEEE

REHAB COLLECTION

WEEE RECYCLE

Recycling

I.D. & Destruct

Recycling

Return Manufacture Asset

(R.M.A)

Asset Recovery System

(ARS)

Asset Recovery

Waste Management system

(ARW)

DrillRecycling

Degauss(

microwave destruction)

Recycling

Blancco(OS data destruction)

No Operating system mounted

Resale

Windows XP mounted Symantec (MAR)

Donations

Rehab B2B WEEE Flows

Producer Responsibility

Historic WEEE – Art. 8 Para. 3:All producers, existing on the market, contribute proportionately to the management of WEEE –according to their share of the market by type of equipment.

New WEEE – Art. 8 Para. 2:Each producer shall be responsible for the management of WEEE relating to the waste from his own products.

Producer Responsibility

Collective Producer Responsibility

Producers are collectively

responsible for all Ewaste arising from

all products

Producers are responsible for their

own individual products

Individual Producer Responsibility