The 10th edition of the International Electronics Recycling Congress, IERC 2011, took place at the end of January, in Salzburg. Over 450 experts from the industry, authorities and academia discussed and presented the newest information and challenges of the WEEE recycling business.
The congress program includes sessions on: “Contributions for sustainability”, “How to stop climate change”, “How to stop illegal export”, “War of raw materials”, “Best available technologies for dismantling, sorting and recycling”, “Worldwide reports of the recycling business”, “Recycling standards: chance or pain?”, “Harmonization of recycling standards”.
We have insights from the congress thanks to Mr. Liviu Popeneciu, President of the Romanian Recycling Association, present at the event.
R: What is your opinion about this edition of the International Electronics Recycling Congress?
LP: Traditionally, this major IERC event focuses on the WEEE recycling industries and related stakeholders, but this time, highly topical and sensitive subjects drew the attention – the participation of interested groups way beyond the technology scope being a proof thereof – political and civil society representatives are also present and voice their opinion. I think the congress managed to be what it was first designed for – the innovative platform for understanding the “best practice” models, being connected to the news in the field, to the creative technologies and solutions dedicated to treatment and recovery processes.
R: We can say that the technological and legislative topics presented at IERC come as a preview for the current year. What is new in this year’s edition?
LP: I felt the political vibe closer than on other occasions, coming discretely from Brussels, when, talking about the need for responsible electrical waste management, besides the environmental protection mission, we see another one taking shape and substance, namely the need for generating a continuous flow of … secondary raw materials obtained by recovering the fractions generated through electrical waste treatment! I like it. A new concept comes to life in Europe on the verge of the 2020s: the concept of a recycling society. For instance, the EU Commission already has a “Raw Materials Initiative” and the political will is undoubtedly reflected in clear opinions, like the one expressed by the Austrian Ministry of Environment, through its representative Mr. Zahrer: “it is our duty to keep WEEE for the European market… the export must be carefully controlled…”
R: What are the main opportunities you have identified at IERC this year?
LP: The recycling industries sector has a remarkable dynamics, being among the most innovative ones, according to the specialists; the reserves for development are not depleted and maybe this is why the Austrian federal minister of environment Nikolaus Berlakovich requests that the quality norms for secondary raw materials be kept at least at their current level. This is the only way they can be accepted as a viable economic alternative to those coming from natural exploitations. Speaking of progress, the participants’ almost unanimous opinion is that we are contemporary with a major change in the electronics recycling business – the “critical materials” challenge. Why? Because the “driver” of new state-of-the-art technologies in electronics is now ensured by critical materials like gallium, indium, germanium, tantalum etc., with limited natural exploitation. To overcome this limitation, HiTech manufacturers are already focused on electronics waste, because it is now taking the form of an alternative source, becoming ever more attractive as the treatment and recovery technologies manage to “extract” more “secondary raw materials”. This is why, faced with the new challenge, a new innovation-technology-production cycle is triggered, we see how “new business” is born and grows under our very eyes….
R: And everything happens just like that, spontaneously?
LP: This is where we need to outline the positive, supportive role of the EU legislative framework which, by accurately identifying progress drivers and the standing expressed by various stakeholders, formulates the parties’ obligations in a highly “engineering” manner, without obstructing their movement in economic terms, in a balanced mix for a greater goal of environmental protection and natural resources preservation, while promoting technical creativity and economic activities. In brief, this means knowledgeable law-makers who, after consulting with the stakeholders, get to know and understand the logic behind market mechanisms, draft the text of laws that generate and subsequently boost economic processes, continue by amending them when necessary, but always remain focused on the political objectives. A huge difference compared to those who pass laws that hinder economic processes all the way to annihilation, who provide the administration with instruments to obstruct the regular activity, who use absurd clauses as legal “grounds” for hidden taxation….
R: How important is it for the European Community to have a harmonized system for legislation and procedures on WEEE collecting and recycling?
LP: I was happy to see how actively the European electrical and electronics industries are represented through the voices of their professional associations, such as CECED, Digitaleurope, Orgalime, but especially that they share mostly the same concepts when it comes to the complex issue of recasting Directive 96, the building block in electrical waste management. Hence, the recyclers’ world has learned about the industry’s arguments on the need to have direct access to electrical waste, equal treatment regarding the reporting responsibilities and recycling performance for all WEEE players, reducing the administrative burdens through harmonization of national registers and especially the imperative need for standards, each of them focused on every operational stage, from collection to fraction recovery. The reply of the recyclers is also wonderful, as they used the authorized voice of EERA, the relevant association, to provide a valuable example of “positive thinking”, supporting the introduction of the same standards.
R: What are your thoughts now, as you came back to Romania?
LP: Eh! Sad thoughts…
R: Why is that?
LP: We forget about innovative techniques, efficient models, enthusiastic visions, we go back to the reality of Bucharest, we need to resume the “production” on memos… Because we cannot allow negligent or clearly faulty texts to become final and produce effects, just because the people from the approval chain are careless or their institutions are not directly involved. We need to approach the other ministries, the Government, the Parliament, the Specialized Commissions to report the errors and especially their consequences on the waste flows management mechanisms. With the new regulations, Romania goes against the best practices from Western Europe, new administrative barriers emerge in front of the producers, the risk of abusive taxation is imminent, “flows” go towards destinations from where they do not go back to fix the lack of a collection infrastructure. In fact, in 2010 the collecting activity has dropped a dramatic 30% compared to the previous year. Under these circumstances, no wonder that EU Commission gave Romania the second warning in the infringement file opened for incomplete and incorrect transposition of Directive 96 on WEEE management.
Source: Infomediu Europa, February edition