Conciliation talks on ‘electroscrap’ put back a month

Date: 05/09/02

By Paul Gallagher

SHOWDOWN talks between MEPs and member states to take place next week on who pays for electronic waste have been postponed until 10 October due to the amount of controversial points to take into account.

The proposed 'electroscrap' directive has infuriated electronics manufacturers because they believe it could make them responsible for recycling rather than the consumer. There is also confusion in the industry over the date by which they will be required to phase out the use of harmful substances in the products such as lead, used for decades to solder circuit boards.

The European Parliament has set a preliminary date of April 2006 to phase out any hazardous substances, but the Council of Ministers has opted for 12 months later. It is at the Council's request that the conciliation talks scheduled for next week have been delayed.

Michelle O'Neill, a lobbyist for Hewlett Packard in Brussels, wants clarification on the deadline as soon as possible: 'What we don't want to see is any of this 'at the latest' wording in any directive which is what we currently have to put up with. We want to be able to give our suppliers and component manufacturers a definite date for phasing out harmful substances so work can continue with the minimal disruption. The electronic industry is a global one, it doesn't just cover the EU. It's crazy to phase out lead by some random date - it's not fair on the companies involved.'

As far as responsibility for the collection of waste is concerned, there is great concern that companies that comply with new regulations will have to cover the 'free-riders' that do not.

'One question that won't be solved by the EU is who will finance pick-ups of electronic goods from people's homes,' said O'Neill.

'That will have to be decided by individual states.'

Talks between MEPs and Member States on who pays for electronic waste have been postponed until 10 October 2002 due to the amount of controversial points to take into account.