Poor awareness holding back e-waste recycling

Concerns that forthcoming battery recycling rules will receive as poor a response as WEEE directive

E-waste is a growing problem

Nearly three-quarters (72 per cent) of firms in the e-waste industry say they expect poor public awareness to remain one of their biggest challenges for the year ahead, according to a survey by the European Recycling Platform (ERP).

Low public awareness of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive has been an issue over the past year for 84 per cent of recyclers surveyed, and firms are worried the same problem will affect obligatory battery recycling when it is introduced in 2010.

But nearly half of firms (44 per cent) say they want government-mandated battery collections to start as soon as possible to help their businesses and a further 39 per cent are happy with the chosen 1 January 2010 start date.

Scott Butler, ERP’s general manager, said recycling firms are clearly enthusiastic about national battery recycling.

“But they are concerned that low public awareness will be an issue, as it has been for WEEE,” he said.

“Once the government chooses battery recycling schemes in the autumn, the schemes will have to get up and running very quickly.”

Nearly half (47 per cent) of recyclers are also concerned about the development of battery recycling networks.

The current recycling rate for batteries in the UK is estimated at just three per cent. The EU directive sets a recycling target of 25 per cent of all batteries sold by 2012 and 45 per cent by 2016. Around 25,000 to 30,000 tonnes of batteries are sold in the UK every year.

A survey last month by Dell found that the UK had one of the worst technology recycling rates in Europe.

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