26 May 2005 (Barcelona)– European countries aiming to meet the WEEE Directive should concentrate efforts on the treatment of electronic waste, rather than worrying about collections, writes Adam Hooker in Barcelona.

That is the advice from Spanish recycling expert José Ramón Carbajosa, who told Bureau of International Recycling members this week that EU Member States are already collecting enough waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). He said the more pressing problem was finding sufficient recycling capacity for the collected WEEE.

Europe's WEEE Directive makes producers of electrical items responsible for meeting recycling targets for items collected separately from the general waste stream. It also sets collection targets for WEEE, but Mr Carbojosa said many of these targets are already being achieved across the EU.

He said: "When talk of the WEEE Directive first came about, people were saying we would need this incredibly complicated system, but for collection we already have one in place. We do not have the treatment facilities in place, though."

Collection

Speaking at BIR's world recycling convention in Barcelona, Mr Carbojosa reported that collections are at a similar level across the EU, with most large appliances already picked up as part of like-for-like take back services.

"Around 85% of the large electronic equipment collected came through this route," Mr Carbajosa said, adding that other collections are carried out from municipal bulky waste collection services and deliveries to civic amenity sites.

Mr Carbajosa said: "What is surprising is that most small appliances actually follow a similar route, as they are removed at CA sites by smaller waste management companies. They then more or less follow the same stream."

Treatment

Through this current system, Spain, like the UK, is already hitting the first Directive collection target of 4 kg per head of the population, but Mr Carbajosa pointed out that while Spanish collection services already appeared to be in a fit state, treatment capacity was far from adequate.

"Alarmingly though we discovered that hazardous waste is not treated," he explained. "Only 10% of fridges are dealt with appropriately. We don't have the plants or the capacity and at the moment, no work is being done by local government to change this."

Mr Carbojosa's comments come just after the agreement in the UK of a retailers' compliance scheme to pay for local authority collection facilities to be upgraded to accept WEEE. Electronics producers have also announced some of their plans this month, through the compliance scheme REPIC.