On June 16, 2011, the Ministry of Environmental Protection disseminated a law memorandum on the environmental treatment of electronic equipment. According to the proposed law, responsibility will be imposed on manufacturers and importers of electronic products in Israel to finance the collection and treatment of their market share’s worth of the waste.
Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan: “The modern lifestyle and the rise in quality of life encourages the fast turnover and upgrading of electrical products, causing old products to be discarded and a great deal of waste to be generated. Discarded mobile phones, televisions, refrigerators or computers harm our health and our environment. The new law will regulate the treatment mechanisms for the waste generated by electronic products and will constitute another step toward advanced waste treatment.”
The new law sets arrangements for the environmental treatment of electronic equipment aimed at encouraging the reuse of this equipment, reducing the quantity of waste which is generated from these products, preventing their landfilling and reducing the environmental and health damages which are attributed to improper treatment of electronic waste.
The law is based on the principle of “extended producer responsibility” whereby responsibility is imposed on the manufacturer or importer to treat the waste created by the electronic equipment which is sold and to bear the attendant cost. The law constitutes another step in the Ministry of Environmental Protection’s solid waste management policy and joins similar arrangements, including the Packaging Law, the Tire Disposal and Recycling Law, the landfill levy under the Maintenance of Cleanliness Law, the Deposit Law on Beverage Containers, as well as planned arrangements for the separation of waste at source in households.
Electronic Waste: Impacts and Potential
Every year billions of electronic products are manufactured and hundreds of millions go out of use as a result of upgrades and turnovers. Only a minority of the old equipment is recycled or renewed and most accumulates in piles of polluting hazardous electronic waste. Companies encourage their customers to upgrade equipment but do not offer an infrastructure for treating the electronic waste which is created, leading to landfilling which is associated with pollution and environmental and health damages.
The weight of electronic and electrical waste in Israel was estimated at 85,000 tons in 2010 and is known to increase at a higher rate than the annual increase in solid waste in general. Research studies conducted around the world which checked areas in which electronic waste was improperly treated have found high concentrations of hazardous and carcinogenic materials in humans, animals and plants.
Electronic waste recycling has clear economic and environmental advantages including prevention of health and environmental damages and creation of new markets and jobs in Israel.
Main provisions of the proposed law:
- A producer or importer of electronic equipment will be required to collect electronic waste at a rate of 65% of the total weight of the electronic equipment he sold during that year and the previous year, calculated as a biannual average.
- Producers and importers of batteries will be required to reach a 50%-75% recycling level, depending on the type of battery, out of the total weight of the battery waste collected.
- Businesses selling electronic products will be required to take back the waste of electronic products at the time of purchase of new products in a manner which will provide for accessible points of return. Every electronics shop will be required to take back any electronic product of the type it sells.
- Beginning in 2020, the landfilling of electronic equipment waste which is not a byproduct of approved recycling or approved recovery will be prohibited.
- The law sets standards for collection and treatment in sorting and recycling facilities.
- Producers and importers will prepare and publish guidebooks for environmental treatment and preparation for reuse for every type of electronic equipment they sell, within a year of the date of the first sale. This guide is designated for anyone dealing with sorting and preparation for electronic waste reuse and treatment and will include information on components and materials, including hazardous materials in the electronic waste, and the means for treating this waste in a safe manner which prevents damage to the environment.
- Producers and importers will act within the framework of corporations and will be obligated to finance the entire costs of collecting and treating the electronic waste. On the other side, responsibility will be imposed on local authorities to make arrangements for the separation of this waste at the level of residents and businesses.
Source: State of Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection