THE RELATIVELY benign weather between Christmas and the new year was heaven-sent for hard-pressed retailers but it presented a challenge for others. Many people off work for the week turned their minds to household tasks and, as a result, there was a surge in the amount of electronic goods being presented for recycling.

But while the surge in electronic waste not going to landfill is welcomed by Martin Tobin, chief executive of the European Recycling Platform (ERP), he and others in the industry face a challenging 2012 – not least the increased value of the waste they are trying to capture.

When it comes to recycling electrical and electronic waste – basically anything with a power cord attached – Ireland is near the top of the European league table (see panel). For once, it is a European ranking we can be proud of.

But while we recycle about 8kg a year of e-waste per head of population – compared to a European Union target of 4kg set under the 2005 Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive and a national target of 7.6kg set by the Department of Environment and Local Government – there is little room for complacency.

Tobin, who operates one of the compliance schemes funded by manufacturers to ensure e-waste can be recycled easily, has seen a surge in the theft of material destined for recycling. Products brought back to retailers have literally been disappearing from behind the shops, with surveillance footage suggesting the “man in a van” is the most common culprit.

He believes this “leakage” of waste from the recycling stream was driven by high metal prices on international markets and he hopes the phenomenon will now start to tail off.

In the meantime, it is down to local authorities to prosecute illegal operators who strip down products for the valuable parts and discard the potentially hazardous residue.

“Proceedings are well under way with a number of illegal operators,” says Tobin. “The message is that if you are interfering with waste, you are committing an offence and it will be prosecuted.”

With consumer electronics spending one of the areas most affected by peoples’ reduced incomes, the supply of gadgets to be recycled has also fallen off in the last four years.

ERP and its competitor, WEEE Ireland, are funded by companies that have an obligation under the regulations to divert waste away from landfill where the hazardous chemicals can be an environmental timebomb.

“The message we are trying to get out is that electronic waste is not just scrap metal,” says Tobin. “The regulations are there because they contain hazardous substances as well, which can became dangerous when you start to interfere with the product.”

The issue of educating the public is also something that concerns Rehab Recycle, the division of the training and employment group for people with disabilities.

Last year, it opened a new facility in Tallaght, dedicated to reusing rather than simply recycling electronic products. Employing 36 people, more than half of whom have a disability, it is capable of processing up to 10,000 tonnes a year of e-waste.

It has launched the PromiseIT programme to encourage companies as part of their corporate social responsibility programmes to pass on old computer equipment which can then be refurbished and sold on or given to schools, charities, community groups and start-up companies.

REHAB’S TALLAGHT facility is the only one in Ireland which meets a number of industry standards, such as PAS 141 which ensures data is destroyed before the equipment is passed on. The facility is regularly audited by manufacturers such as Dell, whose products pass through the centre.

“It’s not just computers and PCs; the other main area for reuse is large household appliances such as fridges, washing machines and cookers,” says Séamus Clancy, director of enterprises with Rehab Group. “Ireland is one of the only markets in Europe where we don’t have high street retailers who sell refurbished goods.”

Clancy’s desire to increase the amount of reuse rather than recycling will be helped by the updated WEEE directive due this year. It is expected to set a target that 5 per cent of e-waste will have to be given a second life rather than disassembled.

The 5 per cent target may cause tension in the sector because a significant number of manufacturers do not want to see refurbished products on the market.

For the moment, though, no one is is willing to rock the boat.

“The new targets may mean up to 5 per cent has to be reused,” says Tobin. “If so, we will sit down with Rehab, Camara, WEEE Ireland and the manufacturers and figure it out.”

For his part, Clancy says he would like the new directive to make it compulsory for the compliance schemes to put money into a reuse programme.

“Reuse has been the lost cousin in this up to now,” he says.

Given that his members are some of the biggest global electronics manufacturers and the largest retail chains in Ireland – from supermarkets to specialist stores – it is no surprise that Tobin believes a strict reuse protocol will need to be in place if the new directive from Europe is to achieve its goals.

“It’s probably fine if it’s a PC,” Tobin adds, “but what if you’re talking about an old Nokia handset – what’s your market for that? It’s probably Africa. But if you ship the phones over there, how do you know it is going to be reused rather than stripped to its component parts?”