ECOTIC participated in the final Conference of the Project, organized at the Interpol headquarters in Lyon, June 25-26
The Project, coordinated by the WEEE Forum and the Interpol, was based on the following findings: out of the 9.3 million tons of WEEE, only 3.3 million tons were officially reported by authorities as being properly collected and treated in Europe, in 2012.
Illegal WEEE trading towards poor countries from Asia and Africa leads to serious environmental pollution with major impact on human health.
At the same time, since WEEE contains valuable raw materials like gold, copper and palladium, illegal WEEE trading is countering the EU's efforts towards a circular, more sustainable economy.
The authors of the final report presented a set of recommendations regarding the improvement of waste flows, normalizing the waste market and countering crime groups involved in illegal WEEE trade.