Sagis EPR

26-May-13 European Commission (Eco-Innovation)
EUR 31.5 million funding available for new projects

The European Commission has issued a call for proposals for eco-innovation projects which will receive EUR 31.5 million in funding this year.

17-May-13 Basel Convention (Transboundary shipments)
No agreement on guidelines for transboundary movements of e-waste

Diverging views on the criteria under which the export of used or non-functioning EEE for repair or refurbishment should be exempted from the Basel ban prevented the adoption of new guidelines during the 11th Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention (COP11) in Geneva last week.

The Basel Convention prohibits the export of WEEE from developed to developing countries. However, the effectiveness of the ban is compromised by WEEE exports together with, or declared as, used EEE. Since 2009, the Basel Convention has been working on technical guidelines on transboundary movements of e-waste, in particular regarding the distinction between waste and non-waste.

In December 2012, the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) – an association of electronics manufacturers including Dell, HP, Sony, Samsung, LG and Apple – requested that used or non-functioning equipment be exempt from the ban if it is ‘sent for refurbishment or repair under a valid contract with the intention of reuse to a) the producer or a third party facility acting on his behalf or b) a third party facility as long as such export does not involve exports from Annex VII countries (i.e. OECD and EU) to non-Annex VII countries.’

The proposal was opposed by among others the Basel Action Network (BAN, intervention) and several, mainly developing, countries fearing that it would ‘further open the floodgates’ of e-waste entering or arising in developing countries as

‘substantial amounts of hazardous waste are generated in repair operations’ (bad batteries, mercury lamps, CRTs, and circuit board) for which adequate treatment facilities are not available in the country; and
the new criteria would be exploited by waste brokers.

BAN also notes that it may not be well understood that e-waste exports would have ‘devastating impacts on legitimate recyclers … in developed countries’ such as e-Stewards and most R2 recyclers that have invested heavily in real recycling operations.

Next steps

Without an agreement to the at times emotionally charged debate, COP11 decided (UNEP/CHW.11/CRP.22) i.a. to

invite parties to serve as the lead country for the development of the guidelines and inform the Secretariat of their willingness to do so by 31 July 2013;
invite submission of examples of when used equipment should normally be considered waste (or not) by 15 September 2013;
request the lead country to prepare draft revised technical guidelines for publication by 30 November 2013; and
invite comments on the draft revised technical guidelines by 28 February 2014.

COP12 is tentatively scheduled for 2015.

Links for further information:

Basel Convention website on technical guidelines on e-waste
COP 11 website
News item on COP10
ANNEX VI (Minimum requirements for shipments) of WEEE Directive 2012/19/EUand Correspondent guidelines to Waste Shipment Regulation 1013/2006/EC

10-Apr-13 European (Environmental Footprinting)
Commission launches Single Market for Green Products initiative

At present, a company wishing to claim green credentials for a product marketed across Europe has to comply with a range of national requirements and methodologies. At the same time, consumers say they are confused by the stream of diverse, non-comparable environmental information on offer.

14-Mar-13 EU Institutions (Waste Policy)
REACH and waste laws found most burdensome for SMEs

A Commission Communication reports that a consultation found that SMEs regard REACH as the most burdensome legislation for small companies, with waste-related legislation also in the top ten.

13-Feb-13 Europe (Eco-Design)
Web-based eco-design guidance from WEEE compliance schemes

French WEEE systems Recylum, Ecologic, Eco-systèmes and ERP have launched a bilingual (French/English) website guiding on eco-design of electric and electronic equipment.

10-Feb-13 European (Packaging)
Annex 1 to the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive amended at last

Commission Directive 2013/2/EU of 7 February sets out an expanded list of illustrative examples of what is and is not packaging. Items on which there was no agreement – ‘release paper of self-adhesive labels’ and ‘refillable steel containers used for various types of gas, excluding fire extinguishers’ have been omitted from the list.

The Technical Adaptation Committee on the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (the ‘Article 21 Committee’) has held a number of inconclusive discussions about ‘borderline items’ since 2006. In December 2011 it considered but was unable to agree on a proposal for a Commission Directive which would have amended Annex I to the Directive (the definitions) through the comitology (delegated powers) procedure.

The draft was not agreed by the Committee because of disagreement over the status of release paper, and in March 2012 it was submitted to the Council to decide. ‘Release paper of self-adhesive labels’ was omitted from the March 2012 text. The Council did not take a vote because it was clear that there would not be a qualified majority in favour (there was opposition to defining rolls, tubes and cores, coat hangers and matchboxes and gas cylinders as packaging). The Commission therefore resubmitted the proposal as a Commission Directive in July 2012. The European Parliament had no objections, and the Directive was finally published in the Official Journal on 8 February.

The rules do not permit the Commission to change anything in the text without resubmitting it to the European Parliament, so 30 September 2013, the date in the Commission’s 28 March 2012 proposal for a Council Directive, remains the deadline for member states to bring the Directive into force on their national territories.

The following have been added to the illustrative list of items to be regarded as packaging:

mailing pouches for catalogues and magazines (with a magazine inside);
cake doilies sold with a cake;
rolls, tubes and cylinders around which flexible material (e.g. plastic film, aluminium, paper) is wound, except rolls, tubes and cylinders intended as parts of production machinery and not used to present a product as a sales unit;
flower pots intended to be used only for the selling and transporting of plants and not intended to stay with the plant throughout its life time;
glass bottles for injection solutions;
CD spindles (sold with CDs, not intended to be used as storage);
clothes hangers (sold with an item of clothing);
matchboxes;
sterile barrier systems (pouches, trays and materials necessary to preserve the sterility of the product);
beverage system capsules (e.g. coffee, cocoa, milk) which are left empty after use;
refillable steel cylinders used for various kinds of gas, excluding fire extinguishers.

Mechanical querns (integrated into a non-refillable container and filled with a product (e.g. a pepper mill filled with pepper) would be considered part of the packaging.

Also to be considered packaging, if designed and intended to be filled at the point of sale, is plastic film around cleaned clothes in laundries.

Items not to be considered packaging are

clothes hangers (sold separately);
beverage system coffee capsules, coffee foil pouches, and filter paper coffee pods disposed of together with the used coffee product;
printer cartridges;
CD, DVD and video cases (sold together with a CD, DVD or video inside);
CD spindles (sold empty, intended to be used for storage);
soluble bags for detergents;
grave side lights (containers for candles);
mechanical quern integrated into a refillable container (e.g. a refillable pepper mill);
wrapping paper (sold separately);
paper baking cases (sold empty);
cake doilies sold without a cake; and
radio frequency identification (RFID) tags.