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An E-Waste Bill for Colombia
By Keith R | April 15, 2009
Topics: Electronic/Electrical Equipment, Waste & Recycling | No Comments »
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After months of rumbling on the issue (here and here), Colombia finally has its first formal proposal to regulate waste electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE or “e-waste” or “e-scrap”) — in this case, in the form of a bill introduced in the Colombian Senate. Whether or not the bill manages to pass before the 2010 election campaign consumes all the attention of legislators remains to be seen, but its introduction does raise the stakes.
Scope
Unlike many WEEE bills surfacing in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) (here, here, here, here and here), this one does not offer an annex listing which products fall within its scope, nor does it explicitly call for the implementing norms to list them. [The Senator’s accompanying explanation of motives, however, does mention the 10 principal EEE categories in Annex 1A of the EU’s WEEE Directive.] The scope may, then, hinge on the bill’s definition of “electrical and electronic equipment”, which is “all apparatuses that in order to function need electrical current or electromagnetic fields, as well as the apparatuses necessary for generating, transmitting and mediating such currents.”
The bill also departs from others in LAC by explicitly calling for the classification of WEEE to follow the dispositions of the Basel Convention — presumably a reference to Annexes VIII and IX of the Convention (English, Spanish), which were added in 1998 in part to deal with the issue of international movements of used and end-of-life EEE.
Obligations of the Importers, Producers and Marketers
The bill would require importers, producers and marketers (distributors, wholesalers, retailers) of EEE to:
- establish take-back and collection plans for their end-of-life EEE, whether collective or single-company, without cost to the final user;
- inform users about the take-back and collection plans;
- assure and finance environmentally adequate and secure final disposal (which is defined in the bill to exclude any recoverable portions of WEEE), which can be done through third parties;
- provide WEEE managers the information necessary about the characteristics and composition of their equipment in order to facilitate environmentally secure reuse and recycling.
The bill also would give these parties the “rights” to create and participate in WEEE management firms and to ask the government for “stimulus” (including special trade tariff benefits) for assuming their responsibility for integrated management of their end-of-life EEE. [Note: the bill also would reserve the right of the Colombian government, if it so chose, to form and participate in WEEE management entities.]
A National WEEE Policy
The bill would have the Environment Ministry (MAVDT) for the elaboration, planning, coordination, execution and follow-up of a national WEEE policy. MAVDT would be required to consult the Communications Ministry, Commerce, Industry and Tourism Ministry (MCIT), and interestingly enough, the National Learning Service (SENA) and Computadores para Educar (“Computers for Educating”), a special program set up in the year 2000 to help bring the “digital divide” by seeking donated and refurbished used computers (including those imported) in Colombian schools. Beyond outlining the implementing norms, the policy will also set out economic and financial instruments (a deposit-return system? advance disposal fee? something else?) that facilitate proper management of WEEE, and steps that promote the creation and formalization of WEEE recycling firms.
Other Provisions
The bill would also:
- a registry of authorized WEEE managers;
- a Unified Information System under MCIT control that includes information on EEE importers, producers, marketers and trademarks on the Colombian market;
- create a National WEEE Committee that includes representatives of industry and Computadores para Educar that, among other things, advises on policy formulation and the development of financing sources for WEEE programs;
- require MAVDT to create indicators to evaluate WEEE plans, projects and programs;
- require MAVDT to report to Congress on implementation of the new law within six months of it taking effect.
Tags: advance disposal fee, aparatos eléctricos y electrónicos, Colombia, Computadores para Educar, deposit-return, digital divide, distributors, e-desechos, e-scrap, e-waste, environment, mayoristas, MCIT, medio ambiente, minoristas, RAEE, reciclaje, recycling, residuos, retailers, scrap electrónico, scrap electronics, SENA, take-back, tariffs, waste, WEEE, wholesalers
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