EC waste proposals

The UK Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) is inviting interested parties to give their views on new European Commission proposals to revise the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and Restriction on the use of certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directives.

On WEEE, a major proposal is to increase the amount of electrical and electronic waste that is separately collected and recycled, while the proposals on RoHS aim for a higher level of environmental protection by revising the scope of the restrictions and the substances they apply to.

Commenting on the proposals, a BERR spokesperson said: 'The UK welcomes the Commission's intention to strengthen the directives, with further steps to limit the environmental impact of waste equipment.

'However, we are concerned that the WEEE proposals in particular do present some significant challenges for British businesses.'

The BERR said that by consulting with the electronics and ICT industries, and the waste management sector, interested parties will be given the opportunity to inform the UK government's understanding of the impact the changes will have, ahead of formal negotiations in Brussels.