Waste directive ‘will cost €40m a year’

A NEW EU directive that kicks in today will add €40 million to the cost of dealing with waste each year, according to waste management specialist Greenstar.

The company said the new Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regime will force suppliers of equipment of this nature to dispose of unwanted electrical products on behalf of customers, free of charge.

Among the provisions of the directive is the introduction of special charges on the sale of new equipment, which could add up to €40 to the cost of high-value electrical items such as refrigerators.

Greenstar said it had invested over €3m in infrastructure, machinery and staff training to meet the demands of the WEEE directive. The company has also become the first in the country to offer businesses that are not members of WEEE Ireland a mechanism to ensure they comply with the new regulations. WEEE Ireland is an industry group that was set up by producers to handle arrangements to take back and recycle old equipment.

But Greenstar chief executive Steve Cowman said many businesses would prefer to opt out of WEEE Ireland and have their equipment handled directly by a licensed waste management operator. Reasons for this included a desire to maintain control of confidential information stored on old computer equipment, as well as cost and security factors.

“With over six years of experience in handling WEEE waste for a range of major IT and medical corporates and multinationals, Greenstar is well positioned to meet the requirements of businesses impacted by the legislation,” he said.

The company’s service is open to all businesses but Mr Cowman said it would be primarily targeted at high-value producers. IT manufacturers and medical device companies were expected to sign up for the service because they faced specific risks arising from information contained on hard disks that could be retrieved, as well as the possibility of components being stripped from discarded equipment and sold back into the market.

Greenstar said up to 16,000 tonnes of WEEE-related waste would be generated each year.