Ecogenesys hosts the WEEE Forum Autumn Session
A record number of representatives from across Europe and beyond, including Colombia, South Africa and Canada, attended the WEEE Forum Operations Committee, General Assembly and supporting events in Edinburgh last week.
The WEEE Forum is the world’s largest multi-national centre of competence responsible for the operational management of waste electrical and electronic equipment (or ‘WEEE’, for short). It is a not-for-profit association of 50 WEEE producer responsibility organisations across the world, including Ecogenesys in the UK, and was founded in April 2002. Since it was founded, the producer responsibility organisations of the WEEE Forum have collected, de-polluted and recycled or sent for preparation for re-use, 41.6 million tonnes of waste electricals.
Hosted by Ecogenesys, in the beautiful Edinburgh, the three-day event saw delegates visit the recently opened GAP Alba Advanced Fridge Recycling facility at Binn Ecopark in Perth, as well as attend meetings in the centre of Edinburgh. Over three days, topics included repair, solar panels, WEEE in residual waste, standards and sampling. Attendees also considered Extended Producer Responsibility and its future and place in the new legislation, the proposed levy on uncollected e-waste and assessed the success of the current collection targets using examples from different EU countries to determine the failings.
Speaking of the event, Graeme Milne, Chief Executive of Ecogenesys, Board Member of the WEEE Forum and proud Scot said;
“It was an honour for Ecogenesys to be asked to host this event and a personal privilege to invite WEEE Forum members to Scotland. Over the three days, we have had many meaningful discussions that will help us all within our own organisations now and into the future, as well as attend a fantastic site visit to the GAP Alba recycling facility.”
About the WEEE Forum
The WEEE Forum is the world’s largest family of producer responsibility organisations (PROs) that responsibly manage the take-back of electrical and electronic waste. Together with our members, we are at the forefront of turning the Extended Producer Responsibility principle into an effective electronic waste management policy approach through our combined knowledge of the technical, business and operational aspects of collection, logistics, de-pollution, processing, preparing for reuse and reporting of e-waste. Our ambition is to be the world’s foremost e-waste competence centre excelling in the implementation of the circularity principle.
All fifty PROs are not-for-profit and collectively they are mandated by 46,000 producers of electrical and electronic products. With members on all continents, the WEEE Forum is a for-impact e-waste knowledge centre. Last year, the PROs in the WEEE Forum collected 3,100,000 tonnes of end-of-use electronics, the equivalent to 310 Eiffel Towers. Over the past twenty-three years, they collectively managed in excess of thirty million tonnes of electrical and electronic waste.
