Medi Ambient and the main SCRAPS in the sector sign an agreement that local authorities will be able to sign up to

Unified system for the collection and recycling of electrical and electronic equipment

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The Regional Ministry of the Environment and Territory has signed an agreement with the Extended Producer Responsibility Collective Systems (EPRCS) for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) that will govern the collection and recycling of this fraction for the next four years. The agreement is the first to be signed in the Balearic Islands at the regional level and the second of its kind to be signed in Spain, following the example of Catalonia, and allows the local entities of the archipelago to adhere to it.

The SCRAPs that have signed the agreement are the AMBILAMP, ECOASIMELEC, ECOFIMÁTICA, ECOLEC, ECOLUM, ECO-RAEE, ECOTIC and ERP systems, members of the OfiRaee Coordination Office, all of which have different quotas depending on the volume of WEEE placed on the market by the producers that form part of these systems.

The new framework agreement stipulates the funds that the signatory SCRAPs have to contribute to the adhering local entities, with variable quotas depending on the degree of compliance with the WEEE collection targets.

Among the main aims of the Agreement are:

• To carry out information and public awareness campaigns on the prevention, correct collection and management of WEEE, in coordination with other Autonomous Communities, in order to increase and/or maintain the degree of effectiveness and efficiency of the separate collection of WEEE covered by this Framework Agreement.
• To establish the conditions for the financing of the aforementioned campaigns by the SRAPs.
• To determine compensation to the local authorities for the collection, including identification, sorting and storage, of WEEE deposited in the collection facilities of the local authorities. In addition, further compensation to local authorities for preparing for re-use activities is determined in accordance with that set out in the Convention.
• Establish the means for WEEE to be managed in accordance with the waste management hierarchy.

The councillor for the Environment and Territory, Miquel Mir, said he was “very pleased to take a new step forward in line with the Balearic Waste Law”. In this sense, the director general of Waste and Environmental Education, Sebastià Sansó, pointed out that “WEEE has a very high potential for pollution and the correct management of this waste is a strategic objective”. In this sense, he added that “it is of great importance for the sector to increase the durability and reparability of the appliances, as well as an optimal recovery of the materials that make up this waste through cooperation between manufacturers and managers”.

For his part, José Pérez, as OFIRAEE’s rotating president, commented on the very positive assessment of the Framework Agreement signed by the SCRAPS members, as it undoubtedly contributes to creating a legal and stable framework for SCRAPS relations with local authorities and other institutions, in accordance with the new waste regulations. At the same time, and although in recent years the level of WEEE collection in the Balearic Islands has been high, meeting state and European targets, this agreement will contribute even more to maintaining this level of collection efficiency and even increasing it”.