Your Driffield Councillors

MEPs Warning over EU Vote

A WARNING has come from EU Environment Spokesman Robert Goodwill that Britain needs to be better prepared to cope with a new directive if it is to avoid thousands of unwanted electrical goods piling up with no means of disposal.

Following a vote by MEPs today (21/03/02) Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) may well have to be collected and separated out for recycling.

The situation is potentially similar to the notorious ‘Fridge Mountain’ fiasco which saw thousands of unwanted fridges stockpiled because the UK Government has failed to put in place measures of dealing with them following earlier EU legislation.

Mobile phones, computers, kettles, toasters etc. are all examples of items included in the draft directive that may now need to be disposed of in environmentally friendly ways.

Speaking in Brussels Robert Goodwill, UK Conservative Environment spokesman said:

"Much of this waste is sitting in people's garages and lofts - the so called ‘Amstrad in the Attic’ phenomenon.  We support moves to collect this waste separately, but my concern is that unless waste facilities are in place to process this equipment and markets developed for the recycled material produced, there is the potential for a repeat of the recent fridge fiasco"

The Directive covers anything with a battery or cable, which includes mobile phones, computers, kitchen appliances and audio equipment as well as children's toys and such things as "musical socks".  Much of this will be expensive to separate and local authorities may well find themselves responsible for the collection and separation of this equipment.

Robert added:

“The UK Government can not afford to sit on its hands over this one like they did with the fridges directive, otherwise hard-pressed council tax payers will end up having to foot the bill for collecting and storing these items until disposal procedures are put in place.”

Editors Notes:

Every year six million tonnes of electronic waste are discarded in the European Union, mostly going to landfill or incineration. Member States agree that this cannot continue indefinitely, and the purpose of the Directive is to spur manufacturers to make such products more recyclable and Member States to put in place systems to recycle them.

The draft directive will now go before the next plenary session of Parliament for ratification.  This is likely to be in April.