🌱 How many unused small devices are there in the EU?
There are over 700 million old and unused phones in European households, which means there are nearly two for every European citizen. The collection rate of small electronic devices in the EU is low. For mobile phones, it is reported to be under 5%.
🌱 Why is collecting unused devices important?
Small electronic devices contain precious materials and critical raw materials. For example, in a smartphone, there are “rare earths in the magnet, cobalt in the battery, indium in the screen, and tantalum, gallium and precious metals in the printed-circuit board”. The repairing and re-using of small electronics, and the recycling of the e-waste it creates, plays an essential role in achieving a circular economy. Given the critical raw materials found in small electronics, their collection can also contribute to supply chain and energy security.
🌱 What is the aim of the new recommendations?
On 6 October 2023, the European Commission published new recommendations for how national authorities could “increase the return of used and waste mobile phones, tablets and laptops”. The Commission hereby hopes to help Member States “improve their performance in […] collecting, then reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recovering […] small electronic devices”. As citizens often struggle with deciding what to do with their old devices, the Commission wanted to take steps to “make it clearer and easier to get [the] products returned, repaired and recycled”. By giving small devices a second life, the Commission hopes to create “a win-win system [through which] citizens benefit, the circular economy grows and [the loss of] essential raw materials [is minimized]”.
🌱 What actions are recommended?
The Commission’s recommendations entail several “measures and incentives to increase the collection rate of small electronics across the EU”. Amongst others, the Commission suggests implementing diverse “financial incentives such as discounts, vouchers, deposit schemes or monetary rewards” to encourage consumers to return their small electronics. They also suggest “providing prepaid envelopes or labels to consumers for the return”. Beyond this, the Commission recommends creating “partnerships between reuse bodies and take-back system operators, as well as the setting of reuse and re-use preparedness targets”. Overall, the Commission would also like to see national authorities “raising [more] awareness and improving access and visibility of collection points where citizens can return their small electronic devices”. The national authorities across the Member States have been invited to make use of the recommendations to guide them in strengthening their implementation of the WEEE Directive.
Read the recommendations here: https://environment.ec.europa.eu/publications/commission-recommendation-improving-rate-return-used-and-waste-mobile-phones-tablets-and-laptops_en
Read more about the Commission’s rationale here:
- https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/%20en/mex_23_4799