Four months ago, WEEE Malta, the national authorised Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment scheme, asked the government to establish a WEEE Stakeholders’ Group with the aim of setting up a Clearing House for this sort of waste.
While the group is now in existence, our call for a clearing house fell on deaf ears. In this country, environmental issues are always an uphill struggle.
During a plenary session for local councils held two months ago, WEEE Malta presented its vision for how Malta can handle this waste stream in order to meet the national target, that of collecting at least 42 per cent of the average placement of each product category on the market in the last three years.
It is estimated that Malta will need to collect 4,300 tons of WEEE in 2016, going on the market placement registered with Mepa of 10,450 tons. This means a daily collection of nearly 16.5 tons, Monday to Friday.
This cannot be done unless we get our act together and set up this clearing house with the aim of making sure there is a fair and level playing field for all actors in this waste stream sector. And to make sure no WEEE makes its way outside the loop.
At the same time it is imperative that the authorities enact legislation to ban all cash transactions at scrap metal facilites. All stakeholders are to be registered with the Clearing House, including Wasteserv, all schemes, the 68 local councils, recyclers and self-compliant producers.
The responsabilities of the Clearing House will be numerous.
For example, it will receive requests for collection from local councils through WEEE compliance schemes. It will ascertain that recyclers do not receive unidentified waste electrical and electronic equipment.
The Clearning House will make sure that self-compliant producers report all WEEE movement in real time and it will verify amounts received by Wasteserv Malta.
It will also help set up an educational campaign as well as establish a rebate value to be given to all local councils. Furthermore, it will provide timely information to the regulator and establish fines for non-compliance to legislation by schemes, producers and recyclers.
During the meeting held with the councils, WEEE Malta put forward two alternatives of how this clearing house can be eventually funded. The unit should either be made up of government employees from the Enviroment Ministry with 50 per cent funding from schemes and 50 per cent from the government. Or it could be staffed by employees of the local councils assocation with the same funding structure. This is of course open to discussion.
WEEE will be formally segregated from bulky refuse collections in order for no material from this waste stream to be lost outside the loop.
Of course as leaders in pro-environment issues we shall start by setting up a meeting for all stakeholders and together work to push the authorities to legislate in this direction.
Across the EU, WEEE clearing houses are the order of the day and we will not reinvent the wheel. The lack of one here has already brought about the first undesired result.
It is estimated that Malta will need to collect 4,300 tons of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment in 2016
The last two weeks have shown an operating WEEE scheme issuing a flat rate per ton for compliance for all WEEE categories, unlike all WEEE schemes in the EU that have different prices for different categories.
In addition we are faced with a situation where none of the recyclers who have a WEEE treatment permit are able to provide a final recycling certificate themselves so they need to export substantial amounts of material relating to refrigeration to obtain such certification.
Other EU countries have of course larger economies of scale too, so it does not hold water that a flat rate is issued for all WEEE categories. In addition, this introduces the concept of cross subsidisation, whereby anyone placing a cooker on the market will need to pay part of the final recycling of a refrigerator, which is against the polluter pays principle.
The introduction of this flat rate has been a blow to creating further green jobs in this sector in Malta and this is why a clearing house with legislative powers needs to be in place. This not a directive that can be monitored after 18 months. Monitoring has to be done weekly and monthly, with consistency from the initial stages.
The GRTU spearheaded the removal of eco-contribution and this was later supported by other consituted bodies. The Labour government decided that the call needed to be heeded. Eco-contribution on EEE products was effectively removed as of September, 2015.
The intention was not to set up some sort of paperwork exercise but compliance schemes that would work with local recyclers to make sure all dismantling and treatment is, as far as possible, done in Malta. This would provide green jobs and export for final recycling of material which cannot be finally recycled here.
In our proactive approach to this waste stream the GRTU set up WEEE Malta which is now a fully accredited member of the WEEE Forum, an umbrella organisation of 33 WEEE schemes in 22 different EU member states. Our dream was and still is to have a holistic system of operation under approved, legislated standards. We never wanted a paper exercise or a haphazard set-up. We will not allow it and we will monitor every move and expose any irregularity.
Our experience in packaging has shown that we need to be extremely vigilant over those who think they are above the law in more ways than one. A producer joining a scheme just because it has issued a particular price is not enough. A producer is still responsible if the scheme does not meet its obligations, and this means not just in terms of targets but on other issues too.
We are still in time to set up this clearing house and prove Malta is able to meet its obligations and show the highest responsibility towards its communities by providing the best local approach to this waste stream.
WEEE Malta duly congratulates the newly set-up Environment and Resources Authority Board led by Victor Axiak. The correct implementation of the WEEE directive, albeit 10 years late, needs to be one of its major responsabilities.
The board was born at the right time when the setting up of a clearing house to fairly implement the EU directive now lies solely in its hands. They will have all our support.
WEEE Malta will do its utmost to make sure not only that national aims are reached in relation to this waste stream but also that producers will be paying for a service that is both realistic and acceptable. Our motto has always been to operate with the best technologies at the lowest cost, while making sure to meet all legal obligations in respect of the community at large.
WEEE Malta has already managed to secure the meeting of the WEEE Forum General Assembly in Malta in the first half of 2017. This shows that although the smallest, WEEE Malta, backed by the local business community, is already widely respected at European level.
All the more reason to get our house in order by then.
Joe Attard is chief executive officer of WEEE Malta.