UK fails to switch on to electrical recycling
A survey released today by the European Recycling Platform shows that the British public is failing to respond to new legislation designed to promote electrical waste recycling and, while there may be a mountain of electrical goodies under the tree this Christmas, there could be a mountain of waste afterwards. The survey, which was commissioned by ERP, a leading electronics recycling organisation, and conducted by YouGov, shows that one third (33%) of people anticipate receiving at least one new electrical household product as a gift this Christmas, and 42% expect to buy new electrical products for themselves or their household. As a direct result of acquiring these new gadgets, 44% of households expect to dispose of at least one unwanted electrical product by the end of the Christmas season. This is equal to nearly 11 million households each disposing of at least one appliance – a massive environmental challenge. Despite the introduction of the European Union’s WEEE Directive in July 2007, which was designed to encourage recycling of electrical and electronic products and reduce the 1.2 million tonnes of these products sent to landfill each year in the UK, the ERP survey shows that just 12% of survey respondents fully understand what they should do to dispose of their old or unwanted appliances. More than two thirds (67%) say they understand only a little or nothing at all. “If unwanted electrical products are properly sorted and delivered to civic amenity sites by households, then the electronics industry, through compliance schemes such as ERP, will recycle them at no charge,” says Scott Butler, ERP UK’s General Manager. “However, if the public doesn’t know what to do, a huge proportion of these products will never enter the recycling chain, and will continue to end up in landfill.” Another significant fact to emerge from the survey is that, although 40% of respondents are aware that the UK’s laws on electrical recycling have changed in recent months, only 25% have made any changes to their approach to recycling issues as a result. Of even greater concern is the fact that young people are even less likely to have changed their behaviour than older people: while 30% of those aged 55 or more say they have changed the way they recycle unwanted electrical products in the last few months, just 13% of 18-to-24-year olds have done so. There is no doubt that the EU Directive has had some effect: in the six months since its introduction, ERP alone has already recycled over 15,000 tonnes of electrical products that would otherwise have gone to landfill. However, there are still many steps to take before the UK meets the long-term targets set by the EU. Notes on survey: The survey of 1,994 adults was conducted by YouGov between 30 November and 3 December 2007. About ERP The European Recycling Platform (ERP) was set up in December 2002 by Braun, Electrolux, HP and Sony in response to the introduction of the European Union’s Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) Directive. ERP’s mission is to ensure cost-effective implementation of the directive for the benefit of the participating companies and their customers. This is achieved through innovative waste-management strategies and by encouraging national implementation of the directive according to a set of core principles, which are fundamental to the protection of consumers and business, as well as to the environment. ERP is the first WEEE compliance scheme to launch operations in several European countries at once, and thus the first scheme to pass on the advantages of multinational recycling operations to the consumer. ERP has proved to be the most competitive solution for companies in the countries where it has started to operate. ERP is already operational in eight countries – in Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and the UK. Operations are due to start on 1 January 2008 in Italy. For more information on ERP, please visit: www.erp-recycling.org