Taking the "e" out of waste
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The European Parliament approved new targets for "e" waste collection, but strong opposition is expected from some European Union states.
The Parliament's goals are ambitious: 70-85% of electronic waste generated by EU states should be recovered, 50-75% of it recycled and 5% of this waste reused. Parliament also proposed that all but the smallest electronic retailers should be responsible for taking back, for free, smaller e-waste items such as electric toothbrushes and mobile phones (100 million mobile phones are tossed aside in each year in Europe alone). Going still further, Parliament proposed a stop to the export of e-waste to less developed countries by limiting the countries available for e-waste recovery, recycling and disposal efforts.
With estimates suggesting e-waste has grown worldwide to 50 million metric tons per year (that's 151 Empire State Buildings each year) curbing this waste is seen as increasingly important. The proposal is certainly a bold one and might encourage the US and China (the world's top e-waste producers) to also examine their e-waste policies.
Sources: EurActiv
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