Development of the Collection and Recycling Systems for Small Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment in Europe [Oushuu ni okeru Shiyouzumi Kogata Kaden no Kaishu Recycle wo meguru doukou, in Japanese]

Collection and recycling systems for small waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in Europe has been developed based on the 2003 EU Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE Directive), which was transposed into the national laws of EU Member States. With the growing recognition on the potential for small WEEE to supply mateirals that are critical to the continued growth of high-tech industry, collection and recycling of small WEEE has become an important agenda not only in the environmental policy but also in the industry policy since the late 2000s. Recognition of this is reflected in the revision of the WEEE Directive, which was agreed upon in June 2012. This article provides an overview of various policy development in the area of recycling and resource security, followed by a review of the implementation of current WEEE Directive, some discussion points during the revision process, final outcomes of the revision and initiatives of individual member states. A focus of the paper is collection of small WEEE, which was one of the weaknesses in the implementation of the current WEEE Directive and the crucial starting point for efficient resource recovery which Europe is striving for.