Recycling agency now profitable export business

THE ORGANISATION set up five years ago to collect and recycle the Republic’s old TVs and washing machines is now a profitable exporting business with substantial cash reserves in the bank.

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), the industry-backed body that collects and recycles electrical and electronic goods, just reached its fifth anniversary this month.

The not-for-profit company’s chief executive, Leo Donovan, says it is one of the best performers in its league in Europe, because Irish people recycle more electrical goods than their fellow EU citizens.

The average across the EU is 4kg per person, but Irish people recycle 9kg per person. Their enthusiasm for recycling has turned into solid business that reuses and exports most of the material it collects.

Since it was set up in 2005 in response to a Brussels directive, it has collected and recycled more than 33 million units, which includes everything from dishwashers and TVs down to energy-saving lightbulbs. Its brief covers everything that has either a battery or a plug.

That material included enough TVs and monitors to go around the M50 14 times. The metal contained in all the small household appliances it has collected since 2005 comes to six times the weight of the steel used in the construction of the new stadium at Lansdowne Road. It has collected enough fridges, washing machines and dishwashers to fill Croke Park 14 times.

WEEE is funded through industry membership fees and producer recycling charges, which are passed on to the consumer.

The material it collects falls into three basic categories: large goods, such as washing machines, fridges and dishwashers, TVs and monitors, and small household appliances.

The large goods are sent for initial processing to a plant in the north, from where they are then sent to Britain. There the material is broken down further and baled and sold as a commodity.

The TVs and monitors are 100 per cent recyclable, according to Donovan. They are processed in Ireland, and the glass is separated out and sold for reuse in new TV screens and monitors.

The smaller household appliances are processed in Ireland, where the material is prepared for reuse and exported.

“Overall, around 75 per cent of what we collect is exported and sold as raw material on world markets,” he says. The company’s export business is worth around €3 million a year, and supports jobs in collection and processing.

WEEE costs around €8 million a year to run and it generates a surplus on its activities. The company uses this to ensure that it maintains reserves.

The cost of collecting and recycling equipment is paid up front, before it is used or reaches the end of its useful life. The company has to maintain reserves against what it is paid up front.

WEEE has built up about three years of reserves, or €24 million, at this stage.

“So, if everything stopped tomorrow, we would still be able to meet our commitments to collect and recycle the goods that people have already paid for,” Mr Donovan says.

In a new development, the company has begun to target batteries used in consumer goods.