European Waste Directive

The European Waste Directive defines waste as any substance or object the holder discards, intends to discard or is required to discard. The Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (Council Directive 91/271/EEC) defines domestic wastewater as wastewater from residential settlements and services which originates predominantly from the human metabolism and from household activities. Additionally definitions are given for urban wastewater, which additionally may be mixed with industrial wastewater and/or runoff rainwater as well as for industrial wastewater. 

The second possibility is the European waste legislation, which includes the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS). The RoHS Directive is closely linked with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) which sets collection, recycling, and recovery targets for electrical goods and is part of a legislative initiative to solve the problem of toxic e-waste. 

In the past, product-related standards in the European waste law were rare. This changed with the triumphal success of everyday electronic gadgets and the associated increase in e-scrap. The EC Directive 2002/96/EC - better known as the WEEE directive - aimed to combat the increasing amount of e-waste from electrical and electronic devices [8]. Goal is the avoidance, reduction, and environment-friendly disposal of increasing amounts of electronic waste through extended producer responsibility. This goal has been hindered by a number of pollutants that are included in the devices (RISKCYCLE). 

In 2003, the European WEEE-Directive 2002/96/EG [5] was implemented to reduce the amount of electronic waste and foster reuse, recovery and recycling of electric and electronic equipment. Closely connected to this, the restriction of hazardous substances Directive 2002/95/EG [6] (RoHS) was adopted by the EC in 2003 with the aim to restrict the use of hazardous substances in the manufacture of electric and electronic products. 

What will be the outcome of the RISKCYCLE project and how is the influence on research policy and legislation Different ways for implementation are conceivable the Ecodesign Directive and European Waste Legislation (RoHS, WEEE and REACH). 

The European Union passed the Extractive industries waste directive in 2006. The fuii titie of the directive is Directive 2006/21/EC of the European Pariiament and of the Councii on the management of waste from extractive industries and amending Directive 2004/35/EC ... 

This traditional system is still the disposal method most widely used in the EU. In landfills, biodegradable waste decomposes to produce landfill gas and leachate. The landfill gas consists mainly of methane and, if not captured, contributes considerably to the greenhouse effect. For this reason, the move away from landfill is an important part of the European Waste Framework Directive. 

EC (2000a). Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the implementation of Community Waste Legislation Directive 75/442/EEC on waste, Directive 91/689/EEC on hazardous waste, Directive 75/439/EEC on waste oils and Directive 86/278/ EEC on sewage sludge for the period 1995-1997. European Commission, Bruxelles. 

Handley, C., Brandon, N., van der Vorst, R. (2002). Impact of the European vehicle waste directive on end-of-life options for polymer electrolyte fuel cells. /. Power Sources 106,344-352. 

European Parliament, Directive 2002/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 2003 on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), 2003b. Available at http //www.icer.org.uk/WEEE20030127.pdf. 

The analysis of plastics for hazardous metals e.g. Cd, Pb, Cr(total) and Hg is now essential on all products including plastics used in electric and electronic equipment sold within the European states. Directives for these products have been issued under Packaging Directive , End of Life Vehicle (ELV), Reduction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), and have been introduced to control the risk to health and waste disposal in the environment. The listed metals have been used extensively in the past as pigments, stabilisers and catalysts, especially PVC, and these toxic elements can be released over time into the environment. Therefore, polymer producers are advised that future products be lower than EU values or free of these metals. 

European Union Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive, 94/62/EC. Producer Responsibility for Packaging Waste, UK Department of the Environment, May 1995. 

Typically, the plastics waste created by the electric and electronic field is 15-30%, hence, the recycling quotas cannot be fulfilled solely by state-of-the-art metal and glass recycling. The European Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive defines strict recycling and recovery quotas (EC2003a) namely, 70-80% for recovery and 50-75% for recycling strategies, which will eventually apply to all countries and will increase in the future therefore, it is... 

Raising public awareness of solutions and problems associated with science and technology also becomes more pressing as engineering artefacts pervade more and more into our daily lives. A fine example of this linked into the recent European Union directive on managing waste associated with electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE). The legal aspects of this directive are profound making manufacturers responsible for the eventual disposal of... 

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