Norway - The Climate and Pollution Agency (the former SFT) has sent letters to a number of distributors of electrical and electronic equipment in which the authority describes in detail the distributors' obligation to sort, store and forward WEEE. The Climate and Pollution Agency reminds distributors of EEE of the text of the regulations as they read in the Waste Regulations: Section 1-5.

The distributor shall ensure that EE waste that is received is sorted from other waste and stored in a suitable place. The storage method shall not present a risk of pollution or damage to people or animals. The possibility that components in the EE waste can be reused, recycled or sorted shall not be reduced.

When the Climate and Pollution Agency carried out a number of inspections of EEE distributors in 2009, it discovered that in many cases the WEEE is stored in a way that means that unauthorised persons can easily gain access to the waste. The Climate and Pollution Agency is aware that waste is stolen from distributors and that there is a great danger that this waste will be illegally exported out of the country.

When WEEE is illegally exported, the WEEE is not subjected to proper environmental treatment and in many cases this can result in serious harm to the environment and public health in the receiving country. The Climate and Pollution Agency stresses in its information that in order for the waste not to present a risk of pollution or harm to people or animals, it is important that the waste be treated at an approved plant that ensures proper environmental treatment of the waste. WEEE that is not adequately protected against theft can represent a risk of pollution and harm to people and animals.

The obligation to store this waste in a way that means it is not easily vulnerable to theft is therefore a regulatory obligation pursuant to Section 1-5 of the Waste Regulations.

The Climate and Pollution Agency assumes that distributors will comply with this obligation by taking the steps necessary to prevent the theft of WEEE. The Climate and Pollution Agency plans to continue inspecting distributors in relation to their obligations pursuant to the Waste Regulations in 2010, and will in connection with this pay special attention to the protection of WEEE against theft.

Author: Guro Kjørsvik Husby

Quelle: EL-RETUR

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