Welcome to WEEE Ireland

Dear WEEE Ireland Member,

I would like to thank all the members who have supported WEEE Ireland over the last five years and extend a special welcome to all our new members who joined us in 2010. Our total membership is 746 and growing, which represents the vast majority of Producers in the battery and electrical industry. WEEE Ireland is a truly Irish-owned compliance scheme. We assist our members in meeting their obligations under the Waste Battery and WEEE Regulations and provide them with a very cost-effective compliance solution.

In 2010 WEEE Ireland turned 5. We recycled, on your behalf, over 33 million WEEE appliances in that period, the equivalent to approximately 9kg per person per annum – 5kg per person over the EU target. We are delighted that the Minister has approved WEEE Ireland as a compliance scheme for WEEE for another 5 years and we look forward to working with the Minister and the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government in assisting them in meeting Ireland’s obligations under the Directives. WEEE Ireland has maintained a very high level of takeback of WEEE in 2010. Through our innovative collection programme we have grown the collection of small waste electrical appliances by 14% while, as expected, the volumes of large waste electrical appliances fell by 10%. Overall, we still managed to collect very close to 9kg per person, which is still well ahead of the average across Europe of 5.5kg.

The benefit of WEEE and battery recycling to the environment is huge but the recovery of limited resources is even more beneficial. The potential saving in CO₂ emissions compared to using raw materials is significant. “Urban mining“, as it’s known, will be the focus of the new Recast of the WEEE Directive. Collection targets will be increased as Europe looks at ways to maintain its valuable resources in order to avoid losing them to landfill or export.

The WEEE Forum (Association of European Compliance Schemes) has just approved the WEEElabex recycling standard for all categories of WEEE. This will ensure that all WEEE is recycled to the same standard across Europe, while making sure that best practice is implemented so WEEE is recycled safely and in an environmentally friendly way. As a board member of the WEEE Forum, I’m proud to be part of this new initiative as it means that WEEE Ireland will be at the Centre of Excellence of WEEE Recycling.

Our battery compliance and collection system achieved a significant collection rate of over 15% of what was placed on the market by WEEE Ireland members in 2010. The 2012 target of 25% will be challenging but, with the launch of initiatives like “My Battery Recycling Box”, we are facing this challenge head on.

We certainly have the right people to hand to provide you with the best WEEE and battery compliance. Our Management Team have all the right experience and expertise, and our audited contractors continue to fulfil the required EU recycling rates. In order to meet our targets and maintain consistent growth, creativity will be key. Thanks to our stakeholders, board and personnel we have the team and the tools to do just that. The future is challenging but we look forward to building on innovative projects in continuing to raise awareness and getting people to think about recycling waste batteries and WEEE.

Leo Donovan, CEO WEEE Ireland