Experts look to advance e-waste and WEEE movement guidelines

Europe – The first face-to-face meeting has taken place of the United Nations Environment Programme’s expert working group tasked with further developing technical guidelines covering transboundary movements of electrical and electronic waste and used electrical and electronic equipment, focusing in particular on the distinction between waste and non-waste under the Basel Convention.

Convened at Tsinghua University in the Chinese capital Beijing, the meeting sought to resolve specific issues surrounding, among other topics, obsolete technologies including cathode ray tubes, identification of relevant actors in transfrontier movement documentation, exemption for used parts, and waste resulting from failure analysis, repair and refurbishment activities.

In addition to comprising representatives from around the world, expert working group observers include Ross Bartley, trade & environment director at the BIR world recycling organisation, and BIR members Sims Recycling Solutions and the China Scrap Plastics Association, together with manufacturers such as Apple, Canon, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Sony.

According to BIR, one of its key concerns is that its member companies should be treated equally to brand name companies regarding direct reuse, repair, refurbishment and reuse after.