Revision of the WEEE directive

The recent revision of the WEEE Directive is set to impose more stringent targets for the recycling of electronic waste and will impose an extra burden on those responsible for its disposal. But who exactly is responsible for making the required changes?



we know the amount of waste we produce is also increasing, placing a significant burden on those responsible for its disposal. That burden will increase further in the coming years following a recent recast of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive, which is set to increase WEEE recycling targets drastically.

The most noteworthy change for the lighting industry is an increase in the targets for WEEE recycling carried out on an annual basis. Currently the targets require countries to collect, on average, 4kg of WEEE per head of population.

The new targets are set to present more of a challenge, according to Recolight’s Nigel Harvey. “The new targets are certainly going to be harder to hit,” he says. “The UK comfortably exceeds the current targets and collects closer to 8kg per head.”

The change, which will take effect in 2016, looks at the average weight of electrical equipment that has been sold in a given country over the previous three years and the new target is to recycle 45 per cent of that figure. This will then increase further in 2019 to 65 per cent.