The Countering WEEE Illegal Trade (CWIT) project has reached its conclusion after 2 years of intensive research, data collection and stakeholder involvement through workshops and interviews. Together with our partners in INTERPOL, UNICRI, UNU, WEEE Forum, CBRA and Zanasi & Partners, we have presented a set of recommendations to the European Commission for improving the WEEE industry in Europe with a corresponding effect on illegal trade in WEEE both within and beyond European borders. The recommendations are aimed at the Commission, Member States, the wider WEEE industry, law enforcement agencies, and the general public.
The summary report containing the recommendations of the project is available on the CWIT project website and will be explained in more detail through my next few blog entries.
The CWIT project:
- Estimated the volume of WEEE generated in Europe;
- Identified actors involved in the WEEE export market;
- Examined the legal framework related to WEEE and its implementation within and outside of the EU;
- Analyzed the involvement of organized crime in the global distribution of WEEE; and,
- Developed an understanding of the methods, destinations and routes used to carry out illicit WEEE shipments.
For starters, the current state of play in tracking how products move from being useful to waste in Europe has revealed that only a minor share of waste generated is currently traceable through the proper channels for collection and treatment.
“Only 35% (3.3 million tonnes of 9.5 million tonnes) of used (but still functioning) and waste electronics and electrical equipment discarded by companies and consumers in 2012 wound up in official collection and recycling systems”.
A substantial amount of waste is currently treated in the EU but is often mislabeled - mainly as metal scrap. In fact, more than 10 times the amount of WEEE exported, was wrongfully mismanaged or illegally traded within Europe itself.
There is still a substantial knowledge gap to determine what happens to the WEEE and both monitoring and enforcement agencies have a difficult task in identifying solutions to deal with this phenomenon. This is the value of the CWIT project research and the cross-functionality of the experts involved has contributed hugely to the understanding of and creating recommendations for countering illegal trade. Even in countries with effective reporting systems, the monitoring of depollution efforts (where harmful substances within WEEE are properly treated) and treatment conditions are not always securely in place.
The remainder of the discarded electronics - 6.2 million tonnes in all - was either exported, recycled under non-compliant conditions or simply thrown in waste bins.
The study estimates 1.3 million tonnes of discarded electronics departed the EU in undocumented mixed exports, of which an estimated 30% (about 400,000 tonnes) was electronic waste; and 70% functioning equipment.
CWIT final report - WEEE flows in the EU
My next blog entry will outline the market analysis and identify the economic losses that have been caused to the WEEE industry in Europe.
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