Electronic waste: collection in Italy to drop to 30% in 2023
Figures from the WEEE Coordination Centre report: 510,708 tonnes sent for recovery, 4.6% less than in 2022
3' min read
3' min read
In Italy, the collection of electronic waste (WEEE) is decreasing: in 2023, 30.24% of the amount released for consumption was intercepted, a result far from the European target of 65% required by European Directive 2012/19 implemented by Decree-Law 49/2014. The 2023 report of the WEEE Coordination Centre, based on the annual declarations of treatment plants, certifies that last year 510,708 tonnes of waste from electrical and electronic equipment were sent for recovery, 4.6% less than the quantities declared in 2022.
Occupational waste at -9.2%
.Almost 72% of the treated volumes (366,909 tonnes) are of domestic origin, while the remaining 28% (143,798 tonnes) are so-called professional WEEE. Compared to 2022, the results of both types are decreasing: household waste records -2.6%, professional waste -9.2%.
With 127,056 tonnes collected, the large white goods grouping (washing machines, dishwashers) proves to be the one with the highest incidence (34.6%), followed by temperature exchange equipment (refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners) with 105,273 tonnes (28.7%) and consumer electronics products (vacuum cleaners, irons, mobile phones) with 81,748 tonnes (22.3%). More contained, as well as decreasing compared to previous years, was the incidence of TVs and monitors with 49,174 tonnes (13.4%).
New controls soon
.In the three-year period 2020-2022, the average input was 1,688,742 tonnes of WEEE, up 7.3% compared to the same period last year. The volumes collected and treated, on the other hand, dropped by 4.6% compared to 2022, consequently, the collection rate decreased, further exacerbating the downward trend recorded since 2019.
"Unfortunately, the evidence that emerges from the 2023 Management Report is a reduction in the overall quantities of WEEE sent for treatment, which is certainly due to the improper management of this waste by operators who are moving outside the legal limits," comments Fabrizio Longoni, director general of the WEEE Coordination Centre: "However, we are confident that the Supervisory and Control Committee, recently renewed after years of absence, will soon put in place through the relevant bodies the necessary controls to combat this phenomenon, which is now doubly damaging in view of the investments in new plant equipment required by the EU and the demand for greater independence in terms of the supply of critical raw materials precisely through recycling".
