E-Waste & SAICM

Report of the Third Central and Eastern European Regional Meeting on the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (Lodz, Poland, 9-10 December 2009) is now available on the SAICM Secretariat website (www.saicm.org).

Direct link to the report: http://www.saicm.org/index.php?content=meeting&mid=87&menuid=&def=1

As you know IPEN POs presented a draft Recommendations on hazardous substances within the life cycle of electrical and electronic products. The Recommendations were supported at the meeting. See par.36-37 of the Report:

VI. Emerging policy issues

(d) Hazardous substances within the life cycle of electrical and electronic products

36. In the ensuing discussion several participants referred to European Union legislation on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) noting that it might be of interest to non-European Union member countries as they embarked on management of such waste. The European Union was currently negotiating a restructuring of that legislation. A paper was tabled with draft recommendations on hazardous substances within the lifecycle of electrical and electronic products that might be considered by the current meeting. One participant said that, at a recent OECD meeting on sustainable materials management, the issue of electronic and electrical waste had been linked to producer responsibility. Such waste was considered the fastest growing in the waste sector. Producer responsibility, she said, should also extend to provision of information on hazardous substances in electronic and electrical waste and action on contaminated sites. The export of such waste to developing countries and countries with economies in transition should be prohibited and capacity building to deal with end-of life products was essential. Several participants strongly supported that statement.

37. The meeting agreed on recommendations on hazardous substances within the life cycle of electrical and electronic products for consideration at the upcoming workshop (to be held in May, 2010), which are attached to the current report as annex A.