The decree implementing the European WEEE Directive (2012/19/EU), which has been approved on March 14th by the Italian Council of Ministers, has been published in the Official Gazette and will come into force from next 12th April. “The work done in these months to implement the European WEEE directive brought important innovations aimed at improving the system”, said Danilo Bonato, general director of ReMedia, one of the main Italian non-profit collective systems for the eco-sustainable management of WEEE, waste from photovoltaic installations and exhausted batteries and accumulators. “In just 5 years we have to grow from 4 kg of WEEE collected per inhabitant per year to 16 kg at least and the model ‘all actors’ – which connects the accredited operators of the sector and the collective systems of the producers in the management of WEEE – offers the opportunity to informal channel to help achieve this important goal. In this path the ability to control the quality of treatment, the compliance with standards and the achievement of the targets of recycling will be decisive to ensure a transparent and efficient management of technological waste”.
The new legislative decree n. 49 of March 14th, 2014 further strengthens the role of the Co-ordination Centre, which will have the task of making more effective the monitoring of the flows of technological waste, managing a list to which all treatment plants must subscribe. Besides, the decree says that online vendors will have to ensure the collection of WEEE to customers who purchase a new product, giving them the opportunity to deliver the equipment at the end of life in collection points made available free of charge. The new decree also marks a turning point for the consumer due to the introduction of ‘”1 versus 0″. This important novelty allows consumers to deliver free of charge small WEEE – less than 25 cm – at the points of sale, without any obligation to purchase. The collection of these technological waste is mandatory for stores with areas larger than 400 square meters and optional for smaller ones. Finally, in the text of the decree the following points have been included: an increase in the collection target (to get to manage by 2019 85% of the total of WEEE generated by Italian households or 65% of the equipment placed on the market); extension of the application range to further products (such as photovoltaic panels), the inclusion of rules ensuring more effective controls to stop the flows of WEEE managed illegally; introduction of measures to encourage the preparation to the re-use of the products in the pre-recycling phase thanks to the introduction of intermediate actors between the treatment plant and the ecological collection centre.
