“There has been a magnificent response to the scheme and in just five years, nearly forty two million units of household WEEE equating to over one hundred and eighty thousand tonnes of old electrical and electronic equipment have been safely taken out of circulation and been recycled” Minister Gormley pointed out.
“There was no shortage of negative comment and general nay saying when we set out on this journey to implementation in Ireland. Nor was there any shortage of critics who told us it couldn’t be done.  Well, the figures speak for themselves and are testament to the importance that Irish people place on protecting our environment”.
The Minister complimented all of those in the industry, in particular the two producer compliance schemes ERP Ireland and WEEE Ireland, the National WEEE Register, the retail sector, local authorities and the public who have worked so hard to make this initiative the success that it is; “It has been through the hard work of all these stakeholders but most importantly the enthusiasm of the Irish consumer which has enabled us perform so exceptionally well over the last five years, placing Ireland up among the top EU electrical recyclers and collecting more than double the EU target. When you look at the average collection rate in Europe of 5kg per person compared to over 9kg in Ireland you can see how well we have done” he added. 

Minister Gormley reminded the public that “Local authorities are required to take back all household WEEE deposited at their collection points free of charge and retailers must inform their customers not just of the one-for-one, like-for-like take back services they are obliged to provide, but also of the free take back service provided by local authorities”. 

ERP and WEEE Ireland also collect and recycling waste batteries on behalf of their members.  Members of the public are entitled to deposit waste batteries free of charge, either to retail outlets selling equivalent batteries, or other authorised collection points, including local authority civic amenity sites.  Under the battery regulations, all retail outlets that sell batteries are required to take waste batteries even where the person depositing the waste batteries doesn’t purchase a new battery. Retailers can either arrange for ERP and WEEE Ireland to collect them or deposit them at local authority civic amenity facilities.

The Regulations also allow workplaces and schools, subject to the agreement of local management, to be designated as collection points.  This is to maximise take back arrangements for members of the public by providing collection points in addition to those at retail outlets and local authority civic amenity facilities. 

The Minister renewed his call on businesses and the public service to take a lead in providing space for receptacles storing waste batteries, as the achievement by Ireland of mandatory collection targets will be dependant on the number and accessibility of collection points.  Producers will be responsible for the financing of the collection, treatment, and recycling and environmentally sound disposal of waste batteries.  The targets to be met under the Directive are challenging: producers must collect 25% of what they place on the market by 2012 and 45% by 2016. ERP and WEEE Ireland collected 266 tonnes of waste portable batteries for recycling during 2009.

The Minister reminded members of the public that spent batteries lying in drawers and presses should be brought to their local retailer, or into work if their employer provided suitable receptacles, from where they will be collected for recycling.  “Many people tend to hoard old batteries or throw them into the bin destined for landfill. No spent battery should be placed in a bin; they contain hazardous substances such as mercury and cadmium which must be kept from landfill, while some contain valuable metals such as silver which should be recovered.

The Minister also called on consumers to plan their battery usage requirements and to use rechargeable batteries instead, adding “rechargeable batteries are not only better value for money, but minimise waste arisings as well”. Recent developments in nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) rechargeable batteries make their use not only feasible but attractive as they can be charged 1,000 times, have up to three times the capacity of a similar sized nickel-cadmium (NiCd) battery and have no memory effect. “Only 15% of portable batteries placed on the market are rechargeable, 85% of the portable batteries we use can only be used once” he added, concluding that “this is not sustainable”.