New waste electrical goods directive

C

Carpenter

Registered User
Messages
2,607
I read an article in Saturday's Indo about this new directive which comes into force on August 15th AFAIK. Dermot Jewell of the Consumers Association and Dick Roche minister for the Environment were said to be vigilant where there was any suggestion that the costs of the waste recovery would be passed onto consumers directly in the form of increased retail prices for electrical goods. In fact one of the larger electrical retailer is warning of impending price increases after this date. I think this is a load of nonsense, as a responsible citizen and consumer I am glad that at last we are taking some responsibility for this type of waste and some day we might see an end to old fridges etc being dumped down country lanes. As a person of reasonable intelligence:rolleyes: I expect that this scheme for recovery will have a cost and as a consumer of said products I assume the cost will be borne by me, which in the principle of "polluter pays" is fair and reasonable. How do Dermot Jewell and Dick Roche think the cost will be absorbed? Will DID and Powercity reduce their profit margin? Hardly. Maybe their staff might forgo their elevenses? Again I think this is another example of ridiculous posturing by our elected politicians and Dermot Jewell. There is nothing for nothing in this life and Dick or Dermot can't guarantee this won't be passed on, directly or indirectly. The retailers should be upfront about and say this "this fridge costs xx, x of which includes for the cost of disposing of your old appliance in an environmentally safe way". What do you think?
 
I think it really depends on what the charge is, if it's say €10, €20 on a €200 appliance, then it doesn't really make much difference, and I am willing to pay that if it results in something I have bought being disposed of safely and unobtrusively.

I do think that the charge should be:

(a) regulated; and
(b) clearly displayed (either in the store or on the sticker price)
 
I thought there would be a fixed charge (depending on the type of appliance/ value) applicable to all retailers, otherwise it could make price comparison difficult. And as you say it should be clear, transparent and regulated. Otherwise we'll end up with illegal dumps etc.
 
I understood the idea of the directive was to encourage manufacturers to use more environmentally-friendly/recyclabe materials in their products and/or produce items with a longer life. In Ireland it seems to have become a localised dumping issue rather than about the bigger picture of white and brown goods becoming more consumable and less recyclable at once.

Placing a flat fee on the end-user on purchase doesn't encourage the manufacturer to compete on an environment-friendly basis or the consumer to seek out the most environmentally-friendly producer.

Rebecca
 
I noticed in Lidl yesterday that they have a notice stating that electrical goods sold there include a charge in respect of their obligations under the WEEE regulations. It did not give any more detail (e.g. the actual charge in €s or as a percentage of the displayed prices) than that.
 
Was listening to the radio (think it was Today FM, would have been Saturday morning, might have been the Last Word recaps) and from what I understood this charge was originally supposed to have been set up in such a way that the consumer would not have to pay. However, now that it is being introduced this is what will happen - it sounded like it was going to be mandatory to display the rate of charge i.e. on a kettle there'll be a sticker saying this charge is €2, on a big American style fridge sticker saying charge is €40 and so on.
 
What I'd like to know is how we'd get on if we followed the Consumers Associations advice (Michael Kilcoyne I think), to not pay the surcharge at all.

How would that work in DID or Power City??

"There you go, €300 for the washing machine, but I'm holding back the €40. Now give me my stuff and I'll be out of here."
 
He was on 5-7 Live on Friday evening asking consumers to hold off on buying electrical goods until the Consumers' Association got a chance to have this properly addressed by the minister. I have me doubts as to how successful that idea would be, but you never know.

I think he might have been talking about trying the EU if he got no joy at local level. That sounds like a good idea to me. If the implementation is contrary to the original directive intention, you might well have a case, especially if other EU countries are implementing it differently.

Rebecca
 
hang on now...the charge is for the disposal.....so why should joe soap have to pay 20 quid towards say the cost of a new large telly, if he gets off his backside and brings the old telly to the dump himself where the council have to take it for free.
I could maybe see a case for charging in a shop if you bring in the old goods....but something like light bulbs receiving a surcharge when 95% of people won't bother bringing the old one back to the shop for disposal is a bit much.
 
I got rid of an old washing machine at Ballymount a few weeks ago. It wasn't free. Does this new directive mean that people now have to pay twice for getting rid of their appliances?

I don't understand it.
 
Do these links help clear up any questions/confusion?
  • http://www.environ.ie/DOEI/DOEIPol.nsf/wvNavView/Waste+Electrical+&+Electronic+Equipment?OpenDocument&Lang= (Department of Environment)
  • [broken link removed]
  • [broken link removed]
 
Yes they do, thanks clubman.

On the surface it seems to make perfect sense to me. It should reduce the amount of fly-tipping as well.

It is obviously going to have quite an adverse effect on small electrical retailers.

(Light bulbs don't have plugs and don't run off batteries (okay, they do...) so the rule shouldn't apply)
 
Bought a new freezer last Friday in Blanchardstown. On the following day, Power City were putting E40 onto the price to cover Weee. On a similar sized freezer DID were only increasing their price by E20.

DID delivered today. The old freezer was taken away - no charge - no problem. I then brought the wrapping (the white snow stuff as the kids describe it) back to DID who accepted it without a word.

Hope I get another 15 troublefree years from this one.

Murt
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top