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Vol 27 - No 10 - December 2001/January 2002 Profiting From Take-Back Legislation The Five "R's"Of Recycling It is estimated that European consumers and businesses throw away more than six million tonnes of unwanted electronic equipment every year which has been identified as one of the fastest growing waste streams in the EU, representing 4% of municipal waste today and increasing by 16-28%every five years. As the lifecycles of items such as mobile phones and PC's become ever shorter, the problem looks set to spiral. To make electronic manufacturers and distributors more responsible for the disposal of product they produce, the European parliament has added legislative muscle to growing consumer pressure, forcing the disposal of products in an environmentally responsible way at the end of their useful life. The WEEE Directive (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) was adopted into legislation in June 2001. It forms the basis for a minimum legislative approach in the EU that supersedes existing national legislation; the latter can only supplement EU requirements. Page number: 19 Word count: 2000 Related Topics: Environment
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