EEB

Waste

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE)

• The Role of the EU
• What is the EEB doing?
• Prevention
• WEEE Directive
• The effects of waste on other key environmental issues
• The WEEE Directive recast: from a good report to an even better law?

With the boom of new technologies, people around the world are using more electric and electronic equipment (EEE) in their daily lives than ever before.

More and more mobile phones, computers and IT equipment, televisions and audio equipment are produced by the industry and bought by consumers. According to the European Commission every year in the EU alone an estimated 9.3 million tonnes of EEE are sold annually, making waste EEE (WEEE) the fastest growing waste stream.

A key piece of legislation which could combat this is the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) introduced January 2007.  The WEEE's main objectives are to prevent the generation of electrical and electronic waste and to promote re-use, recycling and other forms of recovery. This would reduce the quantity of waste while also improving environmental design of electronic products. FOr more information read page 17 of our publication Building Synergies between EU Product Policy Instruments or Simply Passing the Buck?

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