Page 24 from: Recycling International January/February issue 2023

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The grand challenge:
how to unite the
world’s e-scrap sector
Boosting the global recycling rate for used electronics from 17% to 30% calls for

an agreed approach to waste management, bringing together all actors in the

chain. Achieving this is easier said than done, industry players agreed at the WEEE

Forum’s 20th anniversary gathering in Brussels.

partnership structure, a global treaty
regarding e-waste?’ Vlak asks the
audience. ‘There is a business case for
a UN treaty on plastics. Why aren’t we
looking at electronics?’
Recyclers and producers are often at
odds with each other and speakers
agreed that collaboration ‘really must
mean all actors – not some more than
others’. Seeking common ground and
discussing ambitions is seen as vital to
ensure a better, less volatile under-
standing.
Vlak points out the EU received
106 cross-industry responses after the
‘call for proof’ to help fine tune it’s
‘hopefully future-proof’ WEEE
Directive.

‘IDEAL’ LOOP?
Retailers, consumers and legislators
also have a role to play in successful
EPR infrastructure, declared Marius
Costache, general manager of
GreenWEEE International in Romania.
The company is opening a new site
this spring. ‘We’re in the same team
but it doesn’t always feel that way.
Producers are facing a lot of pressure
and high expectations from society.’
Though it’s understandable, the entre-
preneur adds, this doesn’t create the
required ‘ideal’ level playing field.
‘It would be helpful if manufacturers
also got funding to create more sus-
tainable products,’ Costache sug-
gests. ‘The money is automatically
going to the recyclers but is that fair?
We all know the power of financial
incentives. It could help tip the
scales.’
At the same time, the entrepreneur
acknowledges not all producers are
fans of mandatory in-house collection
and recycled content targets. ‘These
are necessary to push for higher recy-
cling rates,’ Costache says. ‘If produc-
ers are really on board with the circu-
lar economy, as they say they are in
their annual reports, surely that’s the
most logical next step. Not commit-
ting to official targets could be inter-
preted as greenwashing.’

RUNNING THE NUMBERS
A total of 10.4 million tonnes of elec-
tronics scrap was generated in the EU

WEEE Forum members collected 3.1
million tonnes of scrap in 2021, mak-
ing a total of 35 million tonnes since

the organisation was launched 20
years ago. ‘I am proud of what we
have achieved together,’ says the

organisation’s president Jan Vlak. ‘But
e-scrap volumes are growing much
faster than our recycling capacity.
Market analysts estimate it could hit
70 million tonnes by 2030. That’s not
too long from now.’
That is why producers must be made
responsible for what they put on the
market, Vlak insists. The WEEELABEX
standards pioneered by the WEEE
Forum have been accepted in many
countries, paving the way towards
more harmony and standardisation
across the continent.
Vlak and other speakers describe this
mission, centred on extended produc-
er responsibility (EPR), as ‘one of the
grand challenges of our time’. Bruno
Vermoesen of the Bosch Group com-
ments: ‘We may have our own agenda
and corporate mission but saying that
as producers we don’t care about
recyclers is simply too harsh. We want
to find a sustainable route that works
for both of us.’

COMMON GOAL
Vlak questions whether existing EPR
schemes are still ‘fit for purpose’. The
market has evolved, as well as product
design, legislation and production and
recycling technologies. ‘Time has not
stood still. Our 20-year anniversary
and the upcoming revision of the
WEEE Directive makes this a good
moment to look into the future.’
Nor are there shared guidelines
between countries outside Europe.
‘Wouldn’t it be great if we had an
international regime, some kind of

A U T H O R Kirstin Linnenkoper

There is a business case for a UN treaty on plastics. Will electronics be next?

24-25_weeeforumhighlights.indd 24 03-02-2023 13:54