Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 14: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the steps he has taken to implement Directive No. 2002/96/EC which imposes the responsibility for the disposal of waste electrical and electronic equipment on the manufacturers of such equipment. [44406/10]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Directive 2002/96/EC on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) required each Member State to introduce measures to provide for producer funded take back of end-of-life WEEE for consumers. The Waste Management (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Regulations 2005 came into effect on 5 July 2005 and completed the transposition of Directive 2002/96/EC.

These Regulations were subsequently amended by the Waste Management (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) (Amendment) Regulations 2008 in order to avail of synergies with implementation of the Batteries Directive on 26 September 2008. Infringement proceedings, relating to a number of technical issues associated with the implementation of the Directive in Ireland, have been instituted by the European Commission; while the basis for the Commission's concerns on these technical points is contested, I intend to make Regulations addressing the issues involved by the end of this year.

Under the terms of the WEEE Directive, financing the environmentally sound management, including recycling, of waste electrical and electronic equipment is solely a producer responsibility. Two collective compliance schemes, funded by producers to discharge their responsibilities, are currently operating in Ireland. These compliance schemes, WEEE Ireland and the European Recycling Platform, are responsible for ensuring that all recovered household WEEE is managed in an environmentally sound manner and for putting in place tracking and auditing systems for materials recovery in line with the requirements of the Directive.

Retailers are required by law to take back WEEE free of charge on a one-for-one, like-for-like, basis from householders. Each local authority must also accept household WEEE free of charge at its civic amenity facilities. Retailers can have their premises designated as 'WEEE collection points' or deposit household WEEE free of charge at the local authority civic amenity facilities. There are currently in excess of 600 'WEEE collection points' in Ireland including both retail outlets and civic amenity facilities and retailers are obliged to notify purchasers of these take back arrangements. Information on the WEEE take back system is available on my Department's web site - www.environ.ie.

There has been a very positive response to the scheme in Ireland and in just five years, nearly forty two million units of household WEEE, equating to over one hundred and eighty thousand tonnes of old electrical and electronic equipment, have been safely taken out of circulation and recycled. The compliance schemes report that circa 9kg per capita of household WEEE is being collected for recycling per annum; this is over double the prescribed 4kg target as set out in the WEEE Directive and indicates that Ireland has had significant success in implementing this Directive.

The WEEE Monitoring Group, which is made up of representatives from relevant industry and public sector stakeholders, oversees the implementation and operation of the WEEE Directive in Ireland. My Department continues to work with relevant stakeholders through this Group to ensure that Ireland maintains its strong track record of performance versus our EU targets for WEEE recovery and recycling.