|
Environment Minister, John Gormley marked the fifth anniversary
of the implementation of the WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic
Equipment) Directive in Ireland and congratulated the Irish
people in making the scheme such a success and demonstrating
their willingness to tackle the problem of waste in a responsible
manner.
“There has been a magnificent response to the scheme 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 been recycled,” Minister Gormley
said.
The Minister complimented all of those in the industry, in
particular the two producer compliance schemes - ERP
Ireland and WEEE
Ireland - and the National WEEE Register, the retail
sector, local authorities and the public who have worked so
hard to make this initiative the success that it is.
Minister Gormley reminded the public that - “Local authorities
are required to take back all household WEEE deposited at
their collection points free of charge and retailers must
inform their customers - not just of the one-for-one, like-for-like
take-back services they are obliged to provide, but also of
the free take back service provided by local authorities”.
ERP and WEEE Ireland also collect and recycle waste batteries
on behalf of their members. Members of the public are
entitled to deposit waste batteries free of charge, either
to retail outlets selling equivalent batteries, or other authorised
collection points, including local authority civic amenity
sites.
Under the battery regulations, all retail outlets that sell
batteries are required to take waste batteries - even where
the person depositing the waste batteries doesn’t purchase
a new battery. Retailers can either arrange for ERP and WEEE
Ireland to collect them or deposit them at local authority
civic amenity facilities.
The Regulations also allow workplaces and schools, subject
to the agreement of local management, to be designated as
collection points. This is to maximise take-back arrangements
for members of the public by providing collection points in
addition to those at retail outlets and local authority civic
amenity facilities.
The Minister renewed his call on businesses and the public
service to take a lead in providing space for receptacles
storing waste batteries, as the achievement by Ireland of
mandatory collection targets will be dependant on the number
and accessibility of collection points.
Producers will be responsible for the financing of the collection,
treatment, recycling and environmentally sound disposal of
waste batteries. The targets to be met under the Directive
are challenging - producers must collect 25% of what they
place on the market by 2012 and 45% by 2016. ERP and WEEE
Ireland collected 266 tonnes of waste portable batteries for
recycling during 2009.
The Minister reminded members of the public that spent batteries
lying in drawers and presses should be brought to their local
retailer, or into work if their employer provides suitable
receptacles, from where they will be collected for recycling.
“Many people tend to hoard old batteries or throw them into
the bin destined for landfill. No spent battery should be
placed in a bin - they contain hazardous substances such as
mercury and cadmium which must be kept from landfill, while
some contain valuable metals such as silver which should be
recovered.
Minister Gormley also called on consumers to plan their
battery usage requirements and to use rechargeable batteries
instead - adding “rechargeable batteries are not only better
value for money, but minimise waste arisings as well”.
Recent developments in nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) rechargeable
batteries make their use not only feasible, but attractive,
as they can be charged 1,000 times, have up to three times
the capacity of a similar sized nickel-cadmium (NiCd) battery
and have no memory effect.
“Only 15% of portable batteries placed on the market are
rechargeable - 85% of the portable batteries we use can only
be used once,” the Minister added - concluding “this is not
sustainable”.
Household WEEE collected for recycling - Aug 2005 - Aug 2010
- Click Here
|
