Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-05-15-Speech-2-033"
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"en.20010515.3.2-033"2
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"Mr President, waste from electronic and electrical equipment is now one of the fastest growing waste streams in the European Union. It is estimated that this waste stream, which constitutes 4% of municipal waste today, will increase by at least 3-5% every year. Electronic and electrical equipment is one of the largest known sources of heavy metals and organic pollutants in the waste stream. Without proper pre-treatment, the highly toxic components can contaminate soil and groundwater, as well as pollute the air.
This directive can therefore be seen as one of the basic instruments for an integrated product policy, where the whole life cycle of a product will be taken into consideration and eco-design will be promoted. The need for business to adapt to a changing agenda, taking more account of environmental concerns, is widely accepted; it is also accepted that countries and industries which innovate more quickly will end up being more competitive than those which delay.
The guiding principle behind the directives is the Extended Producers Responsibility. The objective of this is that by making producers financially responsible for their products when they become waste, an upstream effect is created, which leads to design for the environment, considering the durability, reparability or upgrading, disassembly and recycling of the product. In addition, through the eco-design, the reuse of resources and separate collection, hazardous substances contained in the waste stream are prevented from entering the environment in an uncontrolled way.
The directive also applies the principle of the internalisation of external costs. The costs of disposal, – which up to now have been borne by local authorities, usually as part of waste disposal –are to be internalised and provision made for the reuse, recycling and de-manufacture of this equipment. The ultimate aim is waste prevention.
The principle of manufacturer responsibility for end-of-life electrical and electronic products is not disputed. Producers must be responsible for the products they bring to market. However, they can only be responsible for their individual products. We have had some debate about collective and individual systems, which the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy has gone into in detail.
We in the Committee on Industry have tabled some amendments with regard to the availability of spare parts and also to distance-selling and labelling, which we would ask the Commission to take into consideration. We are also very concerned with the health and safety of workers dealing with recovery of WEEE and this needs to be more carefully considered than previously when transposing the directive.
With regard to the restriction of hazardous substances, some members of industry say that we should focus on large equipment and not small equipment. But the concentration of hazardous substances in small equipment is up to four times higher than in large equipment. Furthermore, small equipment definitely needs to be separately collected to prevent it from ending up in municipal waste, where hazardous chemicals are not controlled.
In principle, the proposal to substitute lead, mercury, cadmium, etc. is welcomed. However, the Committee on Industry has asked for a structured review process, and I believe the Commission should look very closely at this. All stakeholders should have the opportunity to submit data as the basis for an early review, including environmental and consumers' associations, because it is in all our interests that this directive works effectively. I would ask the Commission to take this very much on board.
The Committee on Industry has also asked for an exemption for lead in high-temperature melting solders and lead in glass and electronic components. This is because of the technical difficulties in providing alternatives. I have discussed this in committee with the Commission and, once again, we have to look closely at the technical possibilities here."@en1
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