Tag: #weee

Call to love electronic products longer as E-Waste hits record high. #EWaste #WEEE #Recycling #InternationalEWasteDay

Ireland’s largest recycling scheme has called on consumers to boost the lifespan of unwanted electronics by repairing them or passing them on to others.

The call to recognise the potential left in electronic products comes from WEEE Ireland as International E-Waste Day reveals that the raw material value of global e-waste in 2019 was worth approximately €50.8bn, the equivalent value of 2.9 million electric cars.

Electronic waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the world. It is estimated that a new high of 53.6 million tonnes of e-waste were generated across the planet in 2019.

E-waste is projected to reach an incredible 75 million tonnes by 2030, which is 9 kg for every person in the world. Every house has an average of 72 electrical products, 11 of which are broken or not being used anymore.

International E-Waste Day is organised by the WEEE Forum, an international association speaking for 40 not-for-profit e-waste producer compliance schemes, including WEEE Ireland whose annual conference ‘Financing the Future, the WEEE Circular Economy’ will also take place virtually today to coincide with International E-Waste Day.

“It is, essentially, about loving our electronic items for longer,” said Leo Donovan, Chief Executive of WEEE Ireland.

“Before putting an electronic item to recycling we would ask people to consider if it can be repaired or if someone else might find a use for it. Research shows that 81% of all requests for product repair results in successful fixes, extending the product life. 

“We are making the request in support of a transition towards a zero carbon more circular economy, which aims to keep our resources in circulation for longer, reducing waste and easing demand for new raw materials used to manufacture new electronic goods.

“If we really want to progress to a circular economy in Ireland, we need to look further up the waste hierarchy and that may mean including more criteria such as durability and repairability in the information provided to customers.

“Through a variety of methods we should look at keeping suitable products in use for as long as possible, either by the original user, flowing to new owners or utilising repair services.”

WEEE Ireland was the second-best performing recycling scheme in Europe in 2019, with 38,594 tonnes of waste electrical items and the equivalent of over 44 million used AA portable batteries collected.

A new national record of 10.89kg of e-waste was recycled per head of population last year by WEEE Ireland, on behalf of over 1,114 members and partners – a rise of 6.2% on 2018.

Alongside International E-waste Day, International Repair Day takes place this Saturday, October 17 to encourage people to reduce the amount of goods discarded of every year and use authorised repair engineers for quality and safe repair of home electrical equipment.

By visiting RepairMyStuff.ie consumers can access an online directory of repair professionals nationwide.

As well as discussing initiatives to encourage consumers to prolong the use of their electronics today’s WEEE Ireland conference highlights the future requirement for eco-modulation.

This is a possible future economic instrument to put the circular economy in practice by providing a financial incentive to companies to redesign products to reduce their environmental impacts.

WEEE Ireland urges consumers to recycle their old devices. #Recycling

Industry experts have warned of the dangers of running out of raw materials for batteries used in technology if we fail to recycle used ones.

A surge in sales of devices such as laptops, drones, power tools and e-scooters has seen demand soaring for cobalt and lithium, which are essential for the production of rechargeable lithium batteries that power these devices.

Demand for e-cars, e-bikes, phones, smartwatches and fitness monitoring devices are also putting pressure on these two key materials. In the first six months of 2020 alone, WEEE Ireland reported a 50% increase in rechargeable lithium batteries entering the Irish market.

“The global demand for cobalt has tripled in the past five years but there is a limited supply. We need to find ways to ensure we have sustainable reserves. There’s one simple way to do this and that’s recycling our old devices,” said Leo Donovan of WEEE Ireland.

“Many of us needlessly hold onto end-of-life gadgets that we’ve already replaced, such as phones and laptops, storing them in our attics, spare rooms, sheds and kitchen drawers.

“By doing so, we are unwittingly contributing to an ever-growing supply problem as many of the metals and compounds can’t be recovered to be re-used in the manufacture of new batteries.

“Lithium batteries are a key underpinning technology in the modern world.

“They power mobile devices vital to government, business, healthcare and society and are essential to the decarbonisation of transport, a key goal of the Climate Action Plan (CAP).

“By 2030, the Irish economy will be more dependent on the supply and efficiency of lithium batteries to power transport and communications if we are to meet the CAP and help to limit the effect of climate change.”

As Ireland and the world shifts towards greener technologies, there will be a massive increase in demand for cobalt and lithium.

Research from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) suggests there is not enough capability to mine and process the materials to meet that demand, which could reach 430,000 tonnes in the next decade – 1.6 times today’s capacity.

Separate research from the European Commission reveals the EU will need up to 18 times more lithium and five times more cobalt in 2030 for electric vehicle batteries and energy storage and almost 60 times more lithium and 15 times more cobalt in 2050, compared to the current supply. Ireland can help to reverse this lack of supply by recycling old batteries responsibly.

Jodie Purcell (12) from Dublin encouraging us all to recycle our old devices. WEEE Ireland, the country’s largest recycling scheme, has warned of the dangers of running out of raw materials for batteries used in technology if we fail to recycle used ones.
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WEEE Ireland Picture Conor McCabe Photography.

“As consumers we can all play our part in increasing supply by recycling all of our end-of-life devices. This can be done by taking them to local authority recycling centres nationwide or any retail store that sells batteries,” said Mr Donovan.

WEEE Ireland represents 96% of the Irish battery industry and 74% of the household electrical and electronic industry, who have a producer responsibility to organise and finance the environmental management of their products at their end of life.