ABSTRACT
In the early 1990s the European Union identified end-of-life electronics as a priority waste stream and since then has been attempting to introduce legislation to facilitate its recycling. In July 1999 it released the third draft of its proposed Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive. The Directives major objective is to reduce the amount of waste electrical and electronic equipment arising, to reduce the amount of this waste going to landfill and to address its toxicity. Environmental experts from the electronics industry would suggest, in the strongest possible terms, that some of the aims of Packaging Waste Regulations (PWR), specifically those relating to the end-of-life phase, are always going to be in conflict with current competition requirements. The future WEEE Directive might be implemented, a number of major electronics manufacturers have been working on an industry-led solution Producers Institute for the Management of Electronics Recycling (PRIMER).
