Objectives and results
Objectives and results
Wecycle aims to collect and recycle as many electrical appliances and energy-saving lighting (e-waste) as possible and guarantees their optimum recycling. This prevents hazardous materials from ending up in the natural environment and reduces the need to extract primary raw materials from nature.
Collection
At the very least, Wecycle must satisfy the objectives that derive from the European WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Directive. The legal collection target is 4 kilograms of e-waste per person. This amounts to a total of approximately 66.7 million kilograms. In 2011, Wecycle collected nearly 110 million kilograms of e-waste. The chart below shows the total collection results over the last five years.
Total Wecycle collection result in millions of kilograms 2007-2011
2007 74.6
2008 77.4
2009 83.5
2010 106.3
2011 109.7
Recycling
In addition to a quantitative collection target, the government also sets qualitative targets for the recycling of e-waste. These depend on the recycling category that the product belongs to.
Wecycle strives to achieve a maximum recycling result. In 2010, Wecycle achieved a better to far better recycling result in virtually every recycling category.
Wecycle recycling result according to recycling category 2010
| Legal target |
Result Wecycle |
|
| Televisions | 65% | 87% |
| Refrigerators/Freezers | 75% | 84% |
| Large White Goods | 75% | 75% |
| Other White and Brown Goods | 55% | 75% |
| Energy-saving Lamps | 80% | 93% |
The government has adopted product categories in accordance with the European WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Directive. Within this legal classification, Wecycle has achieved or amply achieved the recycling objectives in all product categories.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions
Wecycle is contributing to weakening the greenhouse gas effect by preventing carbon emissions. This takes place in two different ways: first, by reusing raw materials from discarded e-waste (such as iron and aluminium) instead of extracting them from nature. Second, Wecycle reduces emissions by removing hazardous CFCs from refrigerators and freezers and rendering them harmless, so that they cannot endanger the environment. Cautious estimates suggest that Wecycle has prevented 90 million kilos of carbon emissions equivalents through its 2010 recycling efforts. The responsible destruction of CFCs avoids 400 million kilos of carbon emissions equivalents. The total savings are comparable to the annual carbon emissions of 170,000 petrol-fuelled cars (which are driven 15,000 kilometres per year).
Visit the Media Library to consult the results of previous years in the monitoring reports. Here, you can also find videos on the subject of recycling.
In its annual reports, Wecycle uses an accessible tone of voice to give account of its procedures and results.