Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 February 2006
504 Mr. Lowry asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the items covered under the WEEE producer recycling scheme; if exemptions are available to small business operators; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7841/06]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe EU Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment, WEEE, required each member state to introduce regulations providing for a producer funded take-back scheme for consumers of end-of-life equipment from 13 August 2005.
To come within the scope of the WEEE directive, items of electrical and electronic equipment must be dependent on electric currents or electromagnetic fields in order to work properly and designed for use with a voltage rating not exceeding 1,000 volts for alternating current, AC, and 1,500 volts for direct current, DC. The WEEE directive specifically excludes equipment which is part of another type of equipment that does not fall within the scope of the directive, e.g., car radios; equipment which is connected with the protection of the essential interests of the security of member states, arms, munitions and war material; luminaires in households, e.g., light stands; filament bulbs; large-scale stationary industrial tools; and all implanted and infected products in medical devices. The EU Commission has published a guidance document on the criteria for determining whether a product falls within the scope of the WEEE directive, a copy of which is available on my Department's website at www.environ.ie. There are no exemptions available to small business operators as there are no de minimis provisions in the WEEE directive.
The WEEE scheme has now been operating for six months and the real benefits of this new system for consumers and the environment are becoming apparent. WEEE is now being collected from over 180 collection points nationwide. Early indications are that significant quantities of this waste type are being returned for recycling. In the first 12 weeks alone 4,800 tonnes, equivalent to an annual rate of almost 20,000 tonnes, of household WEEE was collected. This points to a fourfold increase in the recycling of household WEEE as 5,510 tonnes of this waste type was recovered in 2004 and indicates widespread public support for the implementation of the directive.
