Paul McGrath (Westmeath, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 517: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the costs which are being imposed on consumers per electrical item in relation to the waste electrical and electronic equipment directive; the funds which will be generated by this directive; the way in which these funds will be collected; if there will be an audit each year of funds collected; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27352/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The EU directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment, WEEE, required each member state to introduce regulations providing for a producer funded take-back scheme for consumers of end-of-life equipment from 13 August 2005. This directive covers a wide range of equipment from large business equipment, such as large refrigeration units, down to the smallest of consumer products such as pocket calculators and the like.

Under the terms of the directive the funding of such take-back schemes is a producer responsibility. The directive also requires the achievement by member states of specified targets for recovery, reuse and recycling by producers of different classes of WEEE.

A fundamental aim of the directive is to ensure that the cost of recycling electronic and electrical equipment is built into the product price in the same way as the raw material costs of steel and plastic etc., manufacturing, distribution and sale. However, the directive also recognises that, for a number of years to come, a significant proportion of the waste arising in this area will be what is termed "historic WEEE" i.e. products which were originally sold before the directive came into effect. Current producers must bear the cost of recycling this waste regardless of the identity of the original producer. Under the directive, producers are allowed, for a transitional period of eight years, ten years for large household appliances, to show purchasers, at the time of sale of new products, the costs of collection, treatment and disposal of historic WEEE in an environmentally sound manner, by means of visible environmental management costs, EMCs.

The Waste Management (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Regulations 2005 which fully transpose the WEEE directive in Ireland were introduced following two public consultations: the first of these followed publication of the WEEE task force report in April 2004, and the second followed publication of draft regulations in April 2005. Extensive discussion took place with representatives of producers, importers and retailers of electrical and electronic goods in Ireland. While there were varying opinions on how the provisions on the historic waste should operate, the majority view among the industry, for reasons of fuller transparency and greater accountability, favoured a system of visible EMCs in the manner which has been provided for under the regulations. The design of the new system assures the public that the moneys collected for recycling are actually assigned for recycling activity and are not diverted elsewhere. It also ensures traceability and financial accountability and, by informing the public in an open way, ensures that profiteering is prevented.

Visible EMCs are designed solely to cover the cost of recycling of WEEE. None of the revenue involved is handled by the Government. The WEEE Register Society Limited, the industry-based national WEEE registration body, will monitor the implementation of the scheme and adjust the visible environmental management costs periodically to ensure that the not-for-profit principle is observed and that the visible environmental management costs only covers the costs incurred in the environmentally sound management of WEEE. The EMCs which have been validated by the WEEE Register Society are set out in the appended table.

Producers pay the appropriate EMCs into the producer recycling funds operated by the two approved collective compliance schemes operating in Ireland; WEEE Ireland and the European recycling platform. As part of their approvals, each collective compliance scheme undertook to conduct audits and provide an annual report together with a statement of accounts.

Prices generally are falling in the electrical and electronic sectors and this trend is expected to continue. Even in areas where there are price pressures — due to low margins and high recycling costs — particularly the white goods area, consumers are benefiting now under the WEEE directive by availing of free recycling services which did not exist before the 13 August. Visible environmental management costs are input costs and how these are dealt with in the pricing of products is part of the normal negotiations between producer and retailer.

To put the overall impact of the WEEE directive in context, it is estimated that the total cost of recycling waste equipment under the new scheme is around €14 million in an industry of in excess of €1.4 billion annually. The recycling services operated under the scheme are now being utilised by an increasing number of consumers at a considerable saving to them compared to previous waste disposal costs. Since 13 August this includes the free take back of WEEE at local authority collection facilities.

Electric and electronic goods have been identified internationally as a problematic and potentially hazardous waste stream. Ireland has moved quickly in support of EU co-ordinated action in this area. While there has been criticism in this House in the past over delays in transposing EU directives, we can take pride that Ireland is one of only a small number of member states which have fully implemented this directive by the due date.

Paul McGrath (Westmeath, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 518: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the requirements which are imposed on retailers to comply with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive. [27353/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The regulations transposing the EU directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment, WEEE, in the State impose obligations on persons who supply electrical and electronic equipment to the Irish market and while based largely on the principle of producer responsibility, include specific provisions relating to retailers.

Retailers have an obligation to: when selling a new product, to take back at least free of charge household WEEE on a one-for-one like-for-like basis; ensure that any WEEE collected is delivered to an approved collection facility or is collected by a permitted collector working on behalf of the producer or the collective scheme responsible for the WEEE in question; display visible environmental management costs, EMCs; register their premises with their local authority i.e. county or city council. Detailed requirements are set out in the Waste Management (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Regulations 2005 which are available in the Oireachtas Library. Explanatory notes in respect of these regulations together with a guidance document entitled, WEEE and the Retailer, are available on my Department's website: www.environ.ie

Paul McGrath (Westmeath, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 519: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the requirements which are imposed on the producers of electronic goods to comply with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive. [27354/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The regulations transposing the EU directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment, WEEE, in the State impose obligations on persons who supply electrical and electronic equipment to the Irish market. They are based largely on the principle of producer responsibility. Producers have an obligation to: finance the environmentally sound management of WEEE; ensure that WEEE is stored and treated in accordance with specified standards; achieve minimum recovery and recycling targets; maintain records; register with the WEEE Register Society Ltd., the industry based registration body; provide details in accordance with the regulations to enable each producer's share to be determined; ensure that each and every product they place on the market is marked visibly and permanently with the crossed out wheeled-bin symbol as required by the directive; provide specified information to users of their products, and to recovery facilities; submit waste management plans and reports to the EPA; through their product design, take account of and facilitate the re-use, recovery and recycling of the components and materials in their products when they become WEEE. Producers can meet some of these obligations by participating satisfactorily in a collective compliance scheme.

Detailed requirements are set out in the Waste Management (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Regulations 2005 which are available in the Oireachtas Library. Explanatory notes in respect of these regulations are available on my Department's website: www.environ.ie