Electrical goods face price hike for recycling

THE OIREACHTAS European Affairs Committee is to hold hearings on new recycling regulations for electrical goods which look set to add up to €50 to the cost of large appliances.

The regulations, which come into effect from August 13, will see an environmental management charge (EMC) added to the cost of all electrical goods from toasters to televisions. Money raised from producers of goods will then be used to collect and send old equipment for recycling abroad.

Despite concerns to the contrary, Enterprise Minister Dick Roche has argued that as the price of goods such as computers is falling, the charge could be included without adding to the retail price.

However, opposition spokespersons yesterday said there was already evidence that retailers were preparing to pass extra costs onto customers. European Affairs Committee chairman John Deasy promised the committee would examine the issue since the new rules known as the W.E.E.E regulations stem from a European directive.

"In my opinion this qualifies as a new stealth tax. For the minister to say that the companies will not raise prices is absurd. The minister is either being disingenuous or he has no sense of reality," he said.

Deputy Deasy said his local radio stations were already running ads advising customers to buy before the charge comes in, a fact also noticed by Labour consumer affairs spokesperson Kathleen Lynch.

"An advertisement in a national newspaper today from a major retailer includes what it describes as a list of provisional visible environmental management charges that will be imposed from August 13 arising from the W.E.E.E. regulations. These charges range from €40 on a fridge freezer down to €5 on a VCR or DVD," she said.

Details of the charges are to be announced this weekend by a newly appointed State and industry-based committee headed by Declan Burns, a former director of the Environmental Protection Agency. However, a spokesman for Minister Roche said he was confident the charges would not be passed onto consumers.

Under the new regulations producers will have to inform the authorities of sales numbers and pay the relevant charge to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Committee.