Noticias Our Feedback to EC 30 October 2022
Have your say - WEEE
You can also get involved in forming EU laws. The European Commission would like to hear your views on laws and policies currently in development. They offer a platform "Have your say" with the list of all new EU initiatives open for public consultation. You need to register to write your feedback. https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say
Waste from electrical and electronic equipment – evaluating the EU rules
About this initiative: This initiative will assess whether the objectives are met and to what extent the Directive supports a circular economy and environmentally sound management of waste for electrical electronic equipment.
Feedback period: for stage 2 it is 06 October 2022 - 03 November 2022
Feedback from Europeans for Safe Connections
Europeans for Safe Connection welcome the evaluation of the WEEE. It is crucial that the environmental footprint from the waste from electrical equipment will be evaluated thoroughly and an updated WEEE being written accordingly to protect the environment and health of humans.
As we ask in proposal nr. 13 of the Stop 5G Stay Connected but Protected ECI: “Include "Waste from Electrical and Electronical Equipment" (WEEE), other waste products, and the environmental impacts of mining for rare earth minerals and metals used in electronical equipment in the “Zero pollution action plan”.”
It is devastating to see that only on average 42,5% of the WEEE is recycled in the EU when countries like Estonia recycle 76%, Norway 72%, Iceland 71% and Sweden 70%. What kind of recycling system have these countries implemented?
When measured per capita, Europeans (16.2 Kg) produce the most e-waste per person, followed by Oceania (16.1 Kg) and the Americas (13.3 Kg). Europe recycle the highest % WEEE worldwide but it is still only 42,5%. We must do better than that.
Approximately 21% of the WEEE comes from computers, laptops, mobilephones, wifi routers, ect. There are several high-value raw materials in technology devices including gold, silver, copper, and iron. E.g. recycling one million used cell phones can recover as much as 350 kg of silver, 15876 kg of copper, 34 kg of gold, and 15 kg of palladium according to https://theroundup.org/global-e-waste-statistics/
It should be a top priority that we in the EU have effective recycling systems, where all electronic waste is considered a valuable resource and where it is properly recycled within the EU borders. Just like some EU countries have for recycling bottles. For example, in Denmark there is a deposit on bottles and the deposit is paid to the person that returns the bottles to the recycling system.
It is crucial that the individual valuable metals, minerals and chemicals must be recoverable from the used electronics and then reused in new electronics. Due to the speed and scope of technological development, the search for resources to produce new electronics in EU and worldwide has increased significantly. Mining for metals and minerals is destructive to the local environment and too often harmful to the health of local people.
As we ask in proposal 14 “Update Ecodesign Directive from 2009 setting tight limits to resource and energy waste of all connected devices including antennas and satellites.” It is important that all electronics are designed and produced so that metals, minerals and chemicals can be extracted from the electronics when they end up as waste and it is also very important that the resources and energy consumption is minimized. All electronics must be Easy to repair, Easy to recycle, Easy to extract all metals, mineral and chemical substances and of course More lifelong lasting.
It is also very important that the EU demands that all EE produced within the EU and imported EE complies to the RoHS Directive which restricts hazardous substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS). The RoHS Directive currently restricts the use of ten substances: lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP). https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/waste-and-recycling/rohs-directive_en
Best regards
Pernille Schriver
on behalf of “Europeans for Safe Connections”
This feedback was sent from a wired internet connection
- No use of harmful radiation
- Less electricity consumption
- Increased data security
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