Ireland Powers Recycling Best Practices in Europe
April 27, 2017
WEEE Ireland among leading delegates at 5th Annual WEEE Forum Conference in Malta
New European Circular Economy package sets challenging targets for 2030
26 April 2017: Ireland will be recognised as ‘Best Practice’ recycling leaders by peers from across Europe this week, for our powerful recycling achievements based on compliance and recycling results.
The recognition comes as delegates from across Europe gather in Malta for the 5th annual WEEE Forum conference which takes place from 26 – 27 April. The Conference, now in its 5th year is hosted by the WEEE Forum, the representative body of WEEE producer members across Europe and Australasia is aimed at discussing and developing topical environmental issues including Digitisation & Innovation, Circular Economy & Resource Efficiency, and Extended Producer Responsibility.
Celebrating 15 years of excellence in the industry the 2017 WEEE Forum Conference will host EU Commissioner for the Environment; Karmenu Vella, President of the WEEE Forum; Jan Vlak, President of the WEEE Forum, along with representatives from over 30 WEEE producer compliance schemes across Europe. For the first time in 2017, the conference will be attended by representatives from Australia, New Zealand and beyond, keen to learn from the experience and expertise demonstrated by the WEEE Forum members.
WEEE Ireland’s CEO, Leo Donovan, has worked as a Director with the WEEE Forum since its inception in 2002 to set the quality standards for recycling and environmental management of waste, which now sees Ireland recognised as best practice leaders in the collection and treatment of WEEE along with our Dutch, Belgian and French counterparts.
At the event, WEEE Ireland welcomed the announcement of a new Circular Economy package aimed at transforming our recycling processes, which will see the introduction of changes to current WEEE recycling Directive outlining ambitious targets aimed at transforming our recycling processes by 2030.
As Ireland’s leading WEEE management scheme, WEEE Ireland, along with our 900+ industry members have successfully achieved collection and recovery targets to date, and are on track to meet the pending 2019 collection targets of 65% takeback of EEE sold on the Irish market. The introduction of changes to the current WEEE recycling Directive will see efforts move towards a more circular process focused on efficiency, innovation and reuse of materials and by products.
The management team from WEEE Ireland were on hand at the two-day industry event to discuss the scheme’s work to date. Presenting on the subject of the Circular Economy and behavioural change at the Conference, Elizabeth O’Reilly, Head of Compliance for WEEE Ireland commented; “At WEEE Ireland we are delighted that our efforts, and those of our members have helped Ireland to become a leader and exhibit best practices in many aspects of the Circular Economy in terms of the WEEE and waste battery legislation. In doing so, we are delivering on the ambitions of the WEEE Directive to position Europe as world leaders in e-waste recycling and recovery and working towards more efficient resource management.
The WEEE Forum, over the past 15 years has achieved great success, namely in engaging with consumers, and changing habits, creating awareness and making recycling part of their everyday lives.
With the continued support of our Producer members and the Irish public we are ready to meet the positive challenges ahead of transitioning to a sustainable Circular Economy.
Speaking from the conference as a key note speaker, Leo Donovan, CEO of WEEE Ireland commented: “WEEE Ireland are honoured to be active members of the WEEE Forum, and want to take this opportunity to celebrate the huge achievements of the Forum and all of its members in delivering on the guidelines of the WEEE Directive and establishing Europe as a leader in e-waste management.”
ENDS
For further information contact:
Sarah McDonagh / Andrea Wubben
Hume Brophy
01 662 4712
086 778 0301 / 086 142 8977
About WEEE Ireland
WEEE Ireland (Waste, Electrical and Electronic Equipment) is a not for profit organisation, founded by Producers of electrical and electronic appliances to help them comply with the legal obligations imposed by the WEEE Directive 2002/96/EC. WEEE Ireland manages the collection for recycling of household WEEE, lighting equipment and batteries from authorised collection points, on behalf of its Producer members. The WEEE Ireland Annual Environmental report can be found at www.weeeireland.ie
Our objective is to provide cost effective compliance for Producers to meet the requirements of the European Union (Batteries and Accumulators) Regulations 2014 and European Union (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Regulations 2014, whilst minimising the cost to the consumer.
About WEEE & battery recycling
The WEEE Ireland scheme operates on behalf of Producers of battery and electrical appliances to encourage people at home and in work to manage their electrical and battery waste responsibly. Waste batteries can then be deposited in larger WEEE Ireland blue boxes at local battery retailers, recycling centres and public collection days. Recycling electrical items and batteries diverts them from landfill and ensures any heavy metals and chemicals they contain are managed in an environmentally responsible way.
Recycling also saves on natural resources as many of the component parts of batteries can be used again in manufacturing. For more information, please log on to weeeireland.ie, or join the campaign on facebook.com/weeeireland