Precedent Setting Initiative moves forward despite U.S. Lobbying
In an historic and long anticipated move, the European Commission (EC) proposed two precedent-setting environmental Directives on June 13 -- the first on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), and the second on restricting the use of hazardous substances to promote recycling and to reduce impacts on human health, wildlife and the environment. The new initiative was released despite lobbying efforts from the U.S. Trade Representative, who was acting on behalf of the U. S. computer industry trade associations.

Five years after the new rules are adopted, the WEEE directive will hold producers responsible for new "take back" standards for electrical and electronic equipment. For the first time, producers of electronic and electrical products will be legally responsible to pay for reuse and/or recycling of their products at the end of their life. The Directive will apply to all producers of electronic and electrical products who do business in Europe - including US manufacturers - so it will in effect set a new global standard.

"Adoption of the EC Directives will help protect environmental health and safety on both sides of the Atlantic by phasing out some of the worst toxic chemicals and reducing growing piles of electronic junk (e-waste)," said Ted Smith, Executive Director of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, based in San Jose, CA. "Even though it has been watered down due to intensive industry lobbying, it still goes a long way in promoting producer responsibility. It will encourage similar initiatives outside Europe, particularly within the United States, which is lagging far behind Europe. We also share the concerns expressed by our environmental allies in Europe who have criticised the new industry-inspired amendments."

Because of their hazardous content, electrical and electronics equipment can cause major environmental health problems. Recently, Massachusetts became the first state to ban cathode ray tubes from landfills due to environmental concerns. A significant proportion of various pollutants found in municipal waste streams comes from waste electronics.

In the U.S. today, a third of a billion computers will become obsolete in the next five years, resulting in the haphazard release of over a billion pounds of lead and enormous piles other toxic e-waste. While 90% of computer contents could be recycled, only about six percent of obsolete computers were recycled in 1998. Of the 1000 materials that go into computers, hundreds, including chlorinated and brominated substances, gases, metals, acids and plastic additives are highly toxic.

"This is a major step towards the objective of sustainable production and consumption. I am pleased that the Commission has been able to agree on a balanced initiative, which the Environment, consumers and industry all stand to gain from," said European Commission Environment Commissioner Margaret Wallstrom in a statement released yesterday. "Due to the fast pace of technological innovation, electrical and electronic equipment constitute one of the fastest growing waste streams in the EU. It is therefore particularly important to implement the key principles of EU waste management policy, especially the prevention and the recycling of waste, in this area."

In line with the principle of producer responsibility - which requires producers to assume full life cycle responsibility for their products -- the new EC rules provide incentives for producers to reduce the use of hazardous substances and improve the recyclability of their products. The directive's restriction on the use of hazardous substances requires the phase-out and substitution of various heavy metals (including lead, mercury, cadmium and hexavalent chromium) and brominated flame retardants by 2008.

The WEEE Directive ALSO establishes recycling rates for large domestic appliances (refrigerators and washing machines) at 75%, computer equipment at 65%; audio and video equipment at 50%; and a 70% recycling rate was established for cathode ray tubes (used in TV and computer monitors).

The new Directives will reduce environmental and resource impacts and create more jobs in the recycling sector, according to the Commission. Companies that learn how to produce products that are less hazardous and that are easier and less costly to recycle will develop a competitive advantage, since their recycling costs will be lower. Nearly 10,500 jobs could be created by recycling alone and many more jobs will be created through the collection and the transportation of WEEE, according to the Commission. US studies on recycling and employment, estimate that one job is created for 465 tons of processed material. The job-creation potential for recycling 6 million tons of E-WASTE is approximately 13,000 new jobs.

The Directives have now been submitted to the European Parliament for final adoption. Environmental organizations on both sides of the Atlantic are concerned that industry lobbying to further weaken the Directives will continue. They are therefore urging their members and socially responsible investors at funds like Calvert and Pax World Fund Family to continue to support the strong provisions in the WEEE Directive to protect human health and the environment.

"Calvert has initiated dialogue with several of the computer companies it owns on issues of waste disposition, design for environment, and extended producer responsibility, and we will be continuing this work for the foreseeable future," said Calvert's Environmental Analyst Julie Fox Gorte.

Another of the socially responsiblefunds has also taken steps in this direction. "At Pax World, we invest in high-tech companies where appropriate, but do not turn a blind eye to our responsibility to screen out computer firms that damage the environment," said Anita Green, Director of Social Research at Pax World Fund Family.