Dublin - Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Mr. John Gormley, has marked the fifth anniversary of the implementation of the WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Directive in Ireland. “There has been a magnificent response to the scheme and in just five years, nearly forty two million units of household WEEE equating to over one hundred and eighty thousand tonnes of old electrical and electronic equipment have been safely taken out of circulation and been recycled”, Minister Gormley pointed out.

Since the implementation of the WEEE Directive in August 2005:

o 41.95 million household WEEE items collected to date
o Over 180 thousand tonnes of household WEEE diverted from landfill
o 547,000 Fridges/Freezers recycled
o 3.8 million large household appliances recycled
o Over 1 million televisions recycled
o Almost 1 million computer monitors collected
o 11,968 tonnes / 9.6 million units of small consumer equipment collected
o A Collection rate of over 9 kg/inhabitant achieved
o All WEEE is recyclable – it must not go in the bin – no matter how small

The Minister complimented all of those in the industry, in particular the two producer compliance schemes ERP Ireland and WEEE Ireland, the National WEEE Register, the retail sector, local authorities and the public who have worked so hard to make this initiative the success that it is; “It has been through the hard work of all these stakeholders but most importantly the enthusiasm of the Irish consumer which has enabled us perform so exceptionally well over the last five years, placing Ireland up among the top EU electrical recyclers and collecting more than double the EU target. When you look at the average collection rate in Europe of 5kg per person compared to over 9kg in Ireland you can see how well we have done” he added.

Minister Gormley reminded the public that “Local authorities are required to take back all household WEEE deposited at their collection points free of charge and retailers must inform their customers not just of the one-for-one, like-for-like take back services they are obliged to provide, but also of the free take back service provided by local authorities”.

ERP and WEEE Ireland also collect and recycling waste batteries on behalf of their members. Members of the public are entitled to deposit waste batteries free of charge, either to retail outlets selling equivalent batteries, or other authorised collection points, including local authority civic amenity sites. Under the battery regulations, all retail outlets that sell batteries are required to take waste batteries even where the person depositing the waste batteries doesn’t purchase a new battery. Retailers can either arrange for ERP and WEEE Ireland to collect them or deposit them at local authority civic amenity facilities.

The Minister renewed his call on businesses and the public service to take a lead in providing space for receptacles storing waste batteries, as the achievement by Ireland of mandatory collection targets will be dependant on the number and accessibility of collection points. Producers will be responsible for the financing of the collection, treatment, and recycling and environmentally sound disposal of waste batteries. The targets to be met under the Directive are challenging: producers must collect 25 percent of what they place on the market by 2012 and 45 percent by 2016. ERP and WEEE Ireland collected 266 tonnes of waste portable batteries for recycling during 2009.

Quelle: Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government , Ireland

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