1. Extended Producer Responsibility
The View of the Household Appliances Industry
Korrina Hegarty
Environment Policy Director, CECED
Takeback Conference Prague May 2015
CECED - EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF DOMESTIC EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS

2. CECED - EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF DOMESTIC EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS
About CECED
The European Committee of Domestic Equipment Manufacturers (CECED) is a Brussels-based trade association that provides a single, consensual voice for the home appliance industry in Europe
It promotes the industry’s general mission to increase product innovation while reducing the environmental impact of appliances
The home appliance industry is an important European economic player - CECED’s membership has a collective turnover of €48bn per annum
The sector employs almost 250,000 people in Europe and indirectly a further 750,000
CECED - EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF DOMESTIC EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS
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3. CECED - EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF DOMESTIC EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS
Scope
Large appliances such as refrigerators, freezers, ovens, dishwashers, washing machines and dryers
Small appliances such as vacuum cleaners, irons, toasters and toothbrushes
Heating, ventilation and air conditioning appliances such as air conditioners, heat pumps and local space heaters
CECED - EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF DOMESTIC EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS
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4. National Associations across the EU
Members
Direct Members
National Associations across the EU

5. EPR & household appliance industry
EPR across EU environmental legislation - waste, packaging, batteries, WEEE
New EPR minimum requirements proposed within Waste Targets Review Proposal published 2nd July 2014 (Circular Economy Package) - withdrawn and soon to be re-tabled
Parallel work at OECD level (broader geographical scope) on a new EPR Guidance for member countries
CECED - EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF DOMESTIC EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS
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6. EPR & WEEE WEEE takeback scheme/compliance scheme Consumer
End of life treatment according to Directive requirements
WEEE takeback scheme/compliance scheme
Collection Facility – municipalities, retailers/distributors
Consumer
The WEEE Directive places responsibilities on producers and importers EEE –
collection, treatment and recycling of EEE
CECED - EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF DOMESTIC EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS
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7. Household Appliances >50% of WEEE
WEEE Directive fundamentally changed state of affairs of recycling of appliances in short time
Household appliances represent largest share of WEEE waste streams in Europe
Heavy investments in recycling infrastructure in last 15 years

8. Aims of WEEE Directive Reduce environmental impact of waste
Improve use of resources
Financing of recycling in line with producer responsibility principle
Establish incentive for producers to improve product design for easier recycling

9. Assumptions when WEEE legislation created
Producer responsibility thinking:
WEEE represents always a cost
All WEEE will be handled by “producers” as treatment has a cost
No actor wants to take care of WEEE voluntarily

10. Assumptions on how it would work
Municipalities collect all WEEE and hand it over to producers for treatment
Producer responsibility to treat WEEE according to legislation- assumed all WEEE correctly treated
Producer responsibility to register & report volumes treated - assumed all volumes registered & reported
Other actors were not included in the scope of the Directive – assumed all WEEE should end up with producers

11. Reality not in line with assumptions
Directive successfully created a structure for officially capturing WEEE for proper recycling - BUT
Much WEEE has a value
Other actors (in addition to producers)
collect and “treat” WEEE to make a profit
do not need to treat WEEE in accordance to legislation
do not need to report volumes collected/treated
Producers and their recycling systems get part of the WEEE
Value of WEEE depends on how rigorously it has to be treated
WEEE is exported out of EU and incorrect treatment causes health and environmental damage
Other actors sell WEEE that has a value
Lack of enforcement

12. CECED - EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF DOMESTIC EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS
WEEE is valuable waste
CECED - EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF DOMESTIC EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS
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13. All WEEE flows documented
Country
WEEE Generated
Collected by producer systems
Collected by commercial collectors
Total collection and recycling
Total (% of WEEE Generated)
DE (kg/inh)1
17.1
7.8
6.2
14.0
82.1%
NL (kg/inh)2
21.0
7.5
>6.6
>14.4
>67%
UK (kg/inh)3
19.4
7.3
6.9
14.2
73.2%
IT (kg/Inh)4
16.0
4.29
>6.91
>11.2
>69%
BE (Kg/Inh)5
22.4
10.5
>5.1
>15.6
>70%
©DigitalEurope
1 Ökopol, WEEE Flows in Germany,  December 2011
[2 Huisman, J., van der Maesen, M., Eijsbouts, R.J.J., Wang., F., Baldé, C.P., Wielenga, C.A., (2012), The Dutch WEEE Flows. United Nations University, ISP – SCYCLE, Bonn, Germany, March 15, 2012.
3 WRAP, Market flows of WEEE materials, February 2011
4 Magalini, F., Huisman, J., Wang, F., (2012) Household WEEE Generated in Italy, United Nations University, ECODOM, December 2012
5 United Nations University, F-fact, Recupel, Mass Balance and Market structure of (D)EEE in Belgium, March 2013

14. Reality & principle of EPR in WEEE
EPR assumes that collection & recycling of WEEE always costs money
Reality - revenues from recovered materials can outweigh costs of collection, treatment and management
WEEE has proved to be a complex waste stream to manage
Not been easy for EPR legislation to adapt to this shift and fit the reality of waste & resource markets.
Number of problems limit the effectiveness of EPR approach which has led to difficulties and challenges:
monitoring and tracking waste flows
achieving collection and recycling targets
preventing waste undergoing substandard treatment or being illegally exported

15. Registering & reporting all WEEE flows
All WEEE generated through all routes should be collected, reported & treated properly
All WEEE handled by producers, recyclers, waste collectors, retailers, local authorities, traders & others..
Volumes collected & recycled to the same standard as producer collected volumes must also be reported and contribute towards achievement of EPR targets
With the current implementation of the WEEE Directive, public authorities have chosen different ways to structure the WEEE market
CECED - EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF DOMESTIC EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS
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16. Targets, enforcement & control
Meeting minimum collection targets at EU level
Responsibilities of producers to fulfil collection & recovery requirements
Member States responsible to meet collection targets
Enforcement & control to ensure level playing field
Necessary control & enforcement mechanisms
Key role of interactions between producers & authorities
CECED - EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF DOMESTIC EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS
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17. Recycling standards & cost efficiency
Minimal recycling standards respected by all actors
Legal framework ensuring the same minimum treatments standards for waste recycled
Proper & effective enforcement of standards by Member States
State of the art recycling reflected by ‘EN’ standards
Cost efficiency by EPR schemes
Sufficient flexible EPR systems to deal with the fluctuations of resource prices
Beneficial competition among operating EPR schemes
Cost transparency of waste collection & recycling
CECED - EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF DOMESTIC EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS
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18. Consumer behaviour & flexibility at MS level
Consumer also has a central role in waste disposal
Changing consumers habits
Awareness raising to increase collection of waste
Keeping possibility for producers to use ‘visible fee’ at national level
EU Directives leave flexibility to Member States on EPR
No identified ‘ideal model’ for EPR
Whichever model is chosen, legislation should be relevant, enforceable, enabling cost-efficiency and ensure a level playing field
CECED - EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF DOMESTIC EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS
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19. All WEEE flows in EPR principle?
3 conditions critical to ensure transparency and quality:
Quality of WEEE treatment is ensured through standards
Only WEEE flows that meet the minimum treatment standards and are reported and registered, count towards achievement of targets
Conformity with the standards and the legal framework is enforced

20. Thank you korrina.hegarty@ceced.eu