Many everyday consumer items are electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), such as mobile phones, computers, drills, hairdryers, as well as industrial items such as medical devices, and laboratory equipment. When these items reach their end of life they are defined as Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). Lots of electronic goods contain hazardous materials like heavy metals or batteries. These materials can cause serious environmental damage and are dangerous to human health. There is a system in place in Ireland to help recycle these products. Recycling rather than dumping means valuable components can be used again in new products and there will be less mining of raw materials.
WEEE is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the developed world. Up to recently, a lot of WEEE was thrown into the bin and disposed of in landfill. Improved regulation of the collection, recycling and disposal of WEEE has been legislated for at European level and transposed into Irish law in the WEEE regulations. The WEEE regulations came into force in 2005. These regulations have now been replaced with new WEEE regulations, which came into force in July 2011.
Also, many electrical items are powered by batteries. Batteries can contain heavy metals (mercury, cadmium, lead), which are the main cause for environmental concern. If waste batteries are not disposed of correctly, heavy metals may leak when the battery corrodes, and so can contribute to soil and water pollution and endanger human health. Due to the hazardous nature of batteries, separate legislation for the management of waste batteries was transposed into Irish law in 2008. The Battery regulations include all types of batteries, such as portable, industrial and automotive.
Everyone has a role to play in the effective recovery of EEE and batteries at end of life, producers, distributors and consumers (end users). If you are a producer or retailer/distributor of EEE or batteries, you can click on the links above to find out more information regarding your obligations.
WEEE Register Society Ltd. (national producer registration body) www.weeeregister.ie
Department of Environment, Community and Local Government www.environ.ie
WEEE Ireland (EEE and batteries compliance scheme) www.weeeireland.ie
European Recycling Platform (EEE and batteries compliance scheme) www.batteriesback.ie
European Commission http://ec.europa.eu/environment//waste/index.htm
