Press Release: Environment: Commission proposes revised laws on recycling and use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment

Improving implementation and enforcement of laws on electrical and electronic equipment and cutting unnecessary administrative burden are the main objectives of the revised directives proposed by the Commission. The directives on the collection and recycling of electrical and electronic equipment and on the restriction of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment – the so-called WEEE and RoHS directives – have been in force since 2004 but there is room for further improvement and simplification. The proposed directives set higher but more flexible targets on the collection and recycling of electrical and electronic equipment and introduced greater coherence with other EU legislation.

European Commission: MEMO/08/764: Questions and answers on the revised directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/08/764&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

European Commission: MEMO/08/763: Questions and answers on the revised directive on restrictions of certain dangerous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS) http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/08/763&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

EurActiv, 23.10.09: Ministers challenge Commission's e-waste recycling review http://www.euractiv.com/climate-environment/ministers-challenge-commissions-news-222764

European Parliament: Legislative Observatory: Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). Recast http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?id=572350

European Parliament: Legislative Observatory: Electrical and electronic equipment: restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances. Recast http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?id=572343

European Commission: DG Environment: Policies: Waste: Recast of the WEEE and RoHS Directives proposed in 2008 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/weee/index_en.htm

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