Electrical industry bids to throw out EU recycling proposals

Date: 11/12/1997

By Peter Chapman

EUROPEAN Commission efforts to launch a regime for the collection and recovery of old electrical and electronics kit face a rocky ride as industry prepares to launch an all-out attack on the draft proposals at a series of hearings next month.

Many are particularly incensed at the prospect of an outright ban on the use of lead, mercury, cadmium and hexavalent chromium in equipment such as circuit boards.

A lawyer at Hunton and Williams, which advises the American Electronics Association (AEA), said such a ban - mooted in the Commission 'working paper' on the issue - would be an “astonishing provision”.

The Commission has not suggested a time frame for phasing in the ban, but the lawyer warned that it would be difficult to find replacements for materials such as mercury. The industry argues that instead of a ban, limits should be applied to levels above which “realistic environmental concerns are present”.

Commission calls for goods destined for recycling to be “preceded by selective treatment” which would see the removal of certain listed fluids or materials will also come under fire at the January hearings.

“This measure is incredibly vague. How would you expect a company such as IBM to take all of its equipment to be recycled and remove all of the copper wires from it? We don't see how something like this is realisable,” said the industry lawyer.

There is also concern over proposals which would force companies to take responsibility for recycling goods which were put on the market before the rules were adopted.

“This is a very strange provision. We expected the Commission to say that costs should be put on to manufacturers by putting up the prices of their products, but the idea of a fee for products already on the market was a surprise,” said the lawyer.

He added that member states such as the Netherlands, which is launching its own take-back law, had deliberately avoided this kind of retrospective measure.

This Dutch move is itself facing scrutiny by the Commission and member states to ensure the national measures being introduced do not add up to a barrier to trade.

Other countries with advanced plans for take-back rules include Denmark, Germany and Sweden. Voluntary schemes are under way in the UK.

It is not only industry which has raised concerns about the initiative. Sources say member states fear that the Commission's plan to add to the EU rule book on recycling could jeopardise their own efforts to legislate or introduce voluntary take-back regimes.

“It is noticeable that a lot of the schemes that were being worked out in member states have slowed down. People are waiting to see what the outcome of this debate is,” said one.

Member states have until next Monday (15 December) to hand in their initial thoughts on the Commission plan, but will be given until the spring to table more in-depth comments.

An aide to Environment Commissioner Ritt Bjerregaard said a draft directive would then be tabled by the Commission, probably in October next year.