Strasbourg, 21/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - By adopting, on second reading last Tuesday, two reports by Karl-Heinz Florenz (German Christian-Democrat), the European Parliament tightened a certain number of provisions of the draft directive relating, on the one hand, to the limit on the use of certain hazardous substances in electric and electronic equipment, and, on the other, waste management for this type of equipment. At the instigation of the Socialists and Greens, the EP even went further than what was recommended in the Florenz Report, notably by tightening the implementation modalities of the principle of polluter-pays which in this case means that European manufacturers of electric and electronic equipment are held to finance the collection and treatment of waste that their products generate, including "traditional" waste.
The volume of waste in electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) is increasing at the rate of 3 to 5% a year. In 1998, 6 million tonnes of WEEE was generated in the EU. This waste contains hazardous substances, notably heavy metals. Eliminating it in the same way as municipal waste therefore presents risks for the environment. That is why the European Commission last year presented two draft directives: the first concerns the limit on the use of certain hazardous substances (lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybromodiphenyl-based flame retardants - PBD - and polybromodiphenylethers - PBDE) in electric and electronic equipment; the second, waste management for this type of equipment (see EUROPE of 14 June 2000, p.11).
Regarding the first text, Parliament would like the ban on the hazardous substances in question to take effect in 2006, and not 2008 as the Commission proposed, substitution products already being available and the deadline seeming to it sufficient for industry to adapt. The EP would also like the list of substances in question to be complemented in the light of scientific and technical progress. In that perspective, MEPs adopted an amendment calling for, on the occasion of the scheduled review of the directive for end-2003 at the latest, special efforts be made by the Commission to envisage the replacement of bromium and hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) and other halogenic fire-retardants by substitution products.
The draft directive relating to the management of the waste of electric and electronic equipment aims to impose on Member States the establishment of selective collections within households, the aim being to reach an annual collection rate of WEEE of 4 kg per capita by 2006. Citizens would be able to get rid of this waste without cost, and it would thus be up to the manufacturers to fund the collection and treatment of the waste. The standards of management of WEEE recommended by the European Commission provides for minimum percentages of between 60 and 80% (in weight) to be reached by end-2005 at the latest. Regarding selective collection, Parliament would like the setting of an annual rate of 6 kg per capita. It has also set the rate higher regarding valorization, setting higher goals than the Commission's, for example for large household machines such as washing machines and fridges. MEPs also backed the principle of producer liability, together with retroactive effect, but considered that the introduction of compulsory funding for WEEE by producers 5 years after the directive takes effect, as recommended by the Commission, to be unacceptable, and consequently reduced this deadline to thirty months. They also voted in favour of a provision aimed at privileging the funding by the manufacturers of waste generated by their own products, collective financing by the sector seeming to them less profitable in terms of seeking recycling possibilities by each manufacturer. Regarding "traditional" waste, however (from machines placed on the market before the directive take effect), Parliament voted in favour of collective financing by all manufacturers, as a proportion of their market share, a large quantity of products being without brands or "orphans". But especially, it is explicitly provided that manufacturers could levy a contribution on consumers for the management of traditional waste, which the Commission had not clearly authorized.
Although the Greens and the Socialists welcome the adoption of these amendments, the same does not go for the industrial sector concerned, whose lobbies hope that, when deciding on a common position on the text, the Environment Council will overturn the principle of funding the household collection, main amendments introduced by the Socialists and adopted against the opinion of the Rapporteur, Mr. Florenz.