European Parliament votes on draft Directives on waste electrical and electronic equipment and hazardous substances, May 2002

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Series Details 4.5.02
Publication Date 05/04/2002
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European companies are realising the potential costs of the EU's determination to enforce its polluter pays principle with the European Parliament's backing of the Directives on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and hazardous substances (ROHS) on 10 April 2002 following soon after the European Commission's proposal on environmental liability. While the latter foresees companies meeting the costs of cleaning up any environmental damage they cause as well as employing preventive measures to avoid environmental damage in the first place, the WEEE and ROHS Directives provide for producers financing the recycling or safe disposal of waste electronic and electrical equipment.

While the two draft Directives look set to be subject to the conciliation procedure since the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament have differing views over the detail of the legislation, it remains likely that producers will be bearing the cost of the recycling or disposal of such waste from 2005. Commenting on the European Parliament's backing of the directive, European Commissioner for the Environment, Margot Wallström, said

"With the European Parliament's vote, a decisive step towards adoption of EU rules to tackle the fastest growing waste stream in Europe has been taken"
European Commission: Press Release: IP/02/537

Background

The European Commission adopted the initial proposals on the Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment on 13 June 2000 and an earlier European Sources Online: In Focus "Commission adopts proposed Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment" examined these proposals in detail. This In Focus brings the situation up to April 2002.

The European Parliament voted on 15 May 2001 to amend the date for the hazardous material ban in the Directive to 2006 while the Council of the European Union, meeting on 7 June 2001, set a target date of January 2007 for a ban on hazardous materials including lead. The European Parliament also proposed that each individual producer should pay their respective costs while the Council recommended collective responsibility for these producers.

The Council's common position on WEEE and ROHS were therefore returned to the European Parliament on 4 December 2001. They were passed on to the European Parliament's Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy and MEP K-H Florenz was tasked with reporting on them. At a committee meeting in February 2002 Florenz presented both his recommendation on the WEEE Directive and that on the ROHS Directive. Florenz suggested that the European Parliament's second reading of the WEEE should focus on separate collection, treatment and recovery of waste equipment and financing for information for users thereby reintroducing the European Parliament's initial amendments to the proposal and maintaining the individual producer's responsibility.

With regard to the ROHS Directive he proposed it should be changed to allow for simultaneous entry into force of the ban on substances on 1 January 2006 and exemption from the ban of spare parts and consumables for equipment placed on the market before the ban entered into force.

European Parliament maintains that each producer should pay for recycling waste

At the plenary vote of the second reading of the WEEE Directive and ROHS Directives held on 10 April 2002, the European Parliament did indeed confirm their opinion outlined at the first reading that the cost of either recycling or safely disposing of WEEE should fall on each individual producer which differed from the Council's position that there should be collective responsibility. The European Parliament also adopted a number of amendments which differ from the Council's position.

Specific point European Parliament's Position Council of the European Union' Position
Collection rate target of WEEE 6 kilograms per capita, achieved by 31 December 2005 4 kilograms per capita in 36 months
Small producers (turnover of less than 2m euros and fewer than 10 employees Should not be excluded from the Directive Should be excluded from the Directive
Recovery rate of large household appliances 90% 80%
Date of ban of substances under ROHS Directive 1 January 2006 1 January 2007

In addition, the European Parliament proposes two further amendments:

  • Producers must provide financial guarantees for future disposal, to avoid irresponsible 'free-rider' behaviour
  • For historical waste (products put on the market before the legislation enters into force) the producers should share the costs according to market share by type of equipment

WEEE and ROHS Directives to be subject to Conciliation

Since the positions of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union continue to differ the Directives look set to be subject to the conciliation procedure unless the Environment Council, which is expected to consider the amendments at its June 2002 meeting, agrees to the changes.

Both the Council and the European Parliament must agree before the Directives can be passed and therefore future changes are possible.

The progress of the two proposed Directives can be followed through:

COM (2000)347-1)
PreLex
Legislative Observatory (OEIL)
 
COM (2000)347-2)
PreLex
Legislative Observatory (OEIL)

Stakeholders' Response to the Proposals

The proposals have received much attention from industry, environment and consumer groups, all of which seem to broadly support the amendments proposed by the European Parliament in its second reading because of the support for individual producer responsibility and the proposed financial guarantee that all producers have to provide.

The European Consumers' Organisation called the WEEE Directive "a step in the right direction" and will welcome the European Parliament's decision to support individual responsibility as it urged it to do so in a press release ahead of the vote which said,

'BEUC rejects collective responsibility as proposed by the Council. We urge MEPs to adopt individual responsibility, as it will:

  • offer incentives to individual companies to develop more environment-friendly designs
  • discourage free-riding importers to place products on the market at a lower price, leaving the recycling and waste costs to the collective scheme
  • help public authorities control compliance'

BEUC Press Release: 8 April 2002

This view was echoed by the European Environmental Bureau in a statement made in February 2002. Even Electrolux, the world's largest producer of powered appliances for domestic use, who will clearly face considerable costs if the Directive is passed welcomed the European Parliament's second reading, saying,

"Electrolux welcomes the European Parliament's good work on producer responsibility. We are now calling on the Council to support its position at its second reading. The Parliament has made a constructive proposal that modifies an ill-considered proposal from the Council".

Undoubtedly the European Parliament's proposals are more favoured and there is likely to be continued lobbying on the Council to support the Parliament's position. Although the European Parliament and Council of the European Union still have to reach agreement on the exact detail of the WEEE and ROHS Directives, it is possible that the Directives will be passed by the end of 2002 and enter into force around 18 months later. Certainly, European white goods and manufacturers will soon be facing the costs of recycling or disposing of waste electronic and electrical equipment and learning just what costs are involved with the EU's "polluter pays" principle.

Further information within European Sources Online:

European Sources Online: Topic Guides
The Environmental Policy of the European Union
European Sources Online: In Focus
13.06.00: European Commission adopts proposed Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment
 
European Sources Online: European Voice
14.12.00: Firms attack French electronic waste plan
11.01.01: MEPS fight electronic waste plan
15.02.01: Electronic waste row set to boil over
03.05.01: Doubts raised over electronic waste directive
21.06.01: Electronic firms set for legal battle over recycling
 
European Sources Online: Financial Times
06.04.01: Electrical retailers step up action against waste directive
08.06.01: EU members back electrical waste disposal plan
02.02.02: Producers fear Brussels recycling order could cost billions
08.04.02: Electronics makers await new recycling rules
11.04.02: Manufacturers face bill for electrical waste

Further information can be seen in these external links:
(long-term access cannot be guaranteed)

EU Institutions

European Commission DG Press and Communication
Press Releases
10.04.02: Commission welcomes European Parliament Vote on Waste Electrical Equipment and the Restriction of Hazardous Substances [IP/02/537]
 
Speeches
21.06.01: Future directions for European waste policy [SPEECH/01/302]
 
European Commission: DG Environment
Homepage
        Waste
        Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment and on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment [COM (2000)34]
 
European Parliament
Homepage
        The Week: Electro scrap - consumers to sort and producers to pay for recycling [April 2002]
        Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy
        Draft Recommendation for the second reading on the WEEE Directive [February 2002]
        Draft recommendation for the second reading on the Rohs Directive [February 2002]
 
Business Organisations
 
Eurochambres
Homepage
Position Papers:
        Directive on Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE): European Business'Position
        Eurochambres' Joint Resolution on the WEEE Directive (Commission Proposal)
 
Orgalime
Homepage
Press Releases
23.02.01: The first decision on the directives on waste electrical and electronic equipment and on restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment: the engineering industry"s common concerns
22.01.02: The electrical and electronic waste and substances directive: benefit for the environment or disguised taxation
10.04.02: The electrical and electronic waste and substances directive: the European Parliament votes
Position Papers
10.04.02: WEEE and Rohs: detailed Orgalime position paper [September 2000]
10.04.02: WEEE Position paper on the EP 2nd reading [December 2001]
 
Federation of Electronic Industries (FEI)
Homepage
Press Releases
22.03.02: Industry alarmed by EP vote on electronic waste
 
Japan Business Council in Europe
Homepage
Position Papers
        Joint position on WEEE directive [December 2001]
        Joint position on Rohs Directive [December 2001]
        Electronic waste (WEEE & RoHS) : 2nd reading: Three issues of concern [December 2001]
        Joint position paper on consumable amendments in WEEE [March 2002]
 
Electrolux
Homepage
WEEE Directive: A Strategic Choice for Europe
        Position statement
 
Consumers Organisations
 
The European Consumers' Organisation (BEUC)
Homepage
Press Releases
08.04.02: Producers of environmentally friendly products should be rewarded
Position Papers
        Electrical and electronic waste: BEUC response to the European Commission second draft proposal [November 1998]
        BEUC Position Paper on the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive [September 2000]
 
Environmental Organisations
 
European Environmental Bureau
  Homepage
Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment
Position Papers
        14.03.02: EEB voting list on the proposed amendments for the Environment Committee vote (FLORENZ Draft Recommendation for Second Reading), on a proposal for a directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)
Press Releases
        26.04.01: WEEE Directive on track
        03.05.01: EEB letter to the European Parliament
        01.02.02: Joint Press Statement of Industry, Consumer and Environmental Organisations on Producer Responsibility in the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive
 
Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition: Clean Computer Campaign
Homepage
European Union Directive on Waste from Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE)
 
News Organisations
 
BBC News Online
10.04.00: Europe approves recycling law

Further and subsequent information on the subject of this In Focus can be found by an 'Advanced Search' in European Sources Online by inserting 'WEEE' in the keyword field.

Helen Bower
Compiled: 4 May 2002

The European Parliament gave its backing to the Directives on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and hazardous substances (ROHS) on 10 April 2002

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