As a corporate or government purchaser, did you know that in the next few years, when you use new and unrecycled printer cartridges, you may need to comply with new European Green Deal directives?
The Green Deal is a set of measures aimed at making Europe an “climate neutral” continent by 2050.
The electrical and electronic equipment market
Electrical and electronic equipment is the cause of one of the largest waste streams in the European Union, with a growth rate of 2% each year. Only 40% of electronic waste is recycled, which is still very low.
When an electrical product no longer works and cannot be repaired, it loses all its value. According to the European Commission “around two in three Europeans would like to continue using their current digital devices for longer, provided their performance is not significantly affected”, which is why measures are being put in place to make product reusability more accessible.
In order to address this need, the European Commission has proposed the “Circular Electronics Initiative” to foster sustainable development. The idea is to implement measures to extend the operating life of products. For example, for printing equipment, these measures will also apply to printers and consumables such as cartridges. This will be implemented unless the sector reaches an ambitious voluntary agreement between original parts manufacturers and re-manufacturing companies to make progress on the “reuse” of products in the coming months.
To achieve these objectives, here are the measures that the European Commission wishes to implement.
By implementing this initiative, the European Union has the following ambitions:
- To design electrical products for total energy efficiency.
- To promote the recycling and reuse of materials, to manufacture products in accordance with the concept of circular production.
- To implement the right to repair and limit obsolescence for electrical and electronic product.
- To implement the improvement of mobile phone-related products (e.g. chargers and similar devices)
- To improve the collection and treatment of waste electrical and electronic equipment
- To revise EU rules on restrictions regarding hazardous substances in electrical and electronic products and provide guidance to improve consistency with relevant legislation, including REACH and ecodesign.
You should take the time now to think about your next electrical and electronic equipment purchases. Choose reused and refurbished products.
Article based on the text of the Circular Economy Action Plan – European Commission’s Green Deal