The Central Committee’s special correspondent in Dongguan, Tang Peijun/November 13th,
many people chose to discard their home appliances when they failed, creating a huge amount of electronic waste. The European Union has recently made a new
The Central Committee’s special correspondent in Dongguan, Tang Peijun/November 13th,
many people chose to discard their home appliances when they failed, creating a huge amount of electronic waste. The European Union has recently made a new move, requiring manufacturers to modify the design of refrigerators, dishwashers, etc. To be durable and easier to repair, to declare war on e-waste.
In many European countries, although recycling waste is a resident responsibility, there are still a variety of discarded items on the street. Indoor telephones and coffee machines are small items, and even vacuum cleaners, televisions and washing machines are sometimes used. To the product is not old, obviously many people think that some products are newer than maintenance and more cost-effective and cost-effective, discarding faulty or outdated household appliances is the norm.
According to the European Union’s August news, the fastest-growing e-waste in the country is computers, televisions, refrigerators and mobile phones. In 2005, it was about 9 million tons, and it is expected to increase rapidly to 12 million tons by 2020.
The EU member states are aware that in order to protect the earth, in addition to eliminating energy-consuming products, they must also reduce the environmental pollution of these products. E-waste decompression is imperative. The current encouragement of recycling is not enough. In 2018, EU member states began to discuss new actions. The conclusion is that the product should be both durable and easy to maintain.
At the end of September this year, the EU passed the new ecodesign regulations, which have revised the design of refrigerators, washing machines, dishwashers, electronic displays (including TVs) and light source products, and strive to extend the service life of the products, in addition to reducing maintenance difficulties. In addition, spare parts must be repaired, so that customers can repair parts after 7 to 10 years of purchase, so that the electrical products can meet the maintenance rights before disposal.
This regulation is expected to be implemented in 2021 and is considered a new milestone in European environmental protection measures.
Jyrki Katainen, vice-chairman of the European Commission, said the new environmental design regulations can make more efficient use of resources and bring significant economic and environmental benefits. He also cited figures and estimated that the new measures would save 150 euros (about NT$5031) per European household, emphasizing that Europe is embracing the circular economy, which benefits the environment and European companies.
The European Environmental Agency (EEB) also believes that once the product is easier to repair, it will automatically reduce the product inventory turnover, which means less electronic waste will be produced.
However, one thing usually does not have only one kind of voice. There are manufacturers criticizing the extension of product life at the manufacturing end, which is to prevent technological innovation in disguise, and products such as notebook computers and mobile phones are not included in this covered project, making the new regulations still insufficient. Where.
Despite this, the EU is trying to take a new step towards protecting the environment from extending product use and improving maintenance convenience, and hopes to drive other countries to reduce the e-waste trend.