This article is from page 62 of the 2005-08-16 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 62 JPG
CLARE 1s not ready for the onslaught on business and recycling facilities which is coming with this weeks activation of an electrical re-cycling directive, an En- nis businessman has warned.
With just two facilities in the whole of Clare – as opposed to one every 20 miles in Sweden to deal with a similar directive – the official recycling points will be swamped. And small electrical retailers will not be able to afford to build the facilities demanded by the regulation to store old washing machines, fridges and other items, said Paul Flynn, proprietor of Ennis Electrical.
The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) law also means that consumers have to pay up top €40 on top of the price of new electrical goods to fund the disposal of old ones – even if the buyer is not returning any old machine or appliance.
“These new regulations mean twice the work for re- tailers and increased costs and there are a lot of small business people out there who don’t have any idea what is involved in WEEE,” said Paul.
“If we are taking back an appliance for every one we deliver, we’re going to have to make twice as many slelenantoy Ane
The Ennis Electrical boss says that the Inagh and Scariff amenities which have been earmarked to ac- cept the redundant electrical goods “are in no way prepared for what is coming. I spoke to the people in Inagh and they are expecting just a few items each week to be brought in from all over – Pll be bringing a minimum of 60 appliances a week to them and that’s just me,” said Paul.
The Ennis Electrical retailer 1s concerned that many outlets will fail to impose the charge, putting them- selves in danger of facing fines and even risking their
staff being fined.
‘This is written in stone – it’s the law and I know for a fact there are many people who don’t’ know the first thing about it. For instance, before I can even register for the directive – and every electrical retailer has to register – I have to have a holding facility for appli- ances with a concrete floor and weatherproof cover- ing. There are many people who don’t know that. Most people don’t even know that retailers now don’t have to pay when they bring appliances for disposal.”
There are 355,000 fridges sold in Ireland every year and Paul predicts that not all retailers will impose the charges which range from €1 when buying a new electric toothbrush to €40 extra when buying a large fridge.
Paul says that the retailers are “pleased that this 1s at least an exposed charge. The washing machine which a customer bought before the charges were introduced still costs the same amount and the charge is imposed on top of that.”
He believes that the WEEE Register “was negoti- ated with the big national and multinational retailers in mind – not the small retailers.”
The Ennis businessman says that he is in full agree- ment with the need to have electrical goods responsi- bly disposed of.
‘T don’t want to see fridges dumped at the side of the road. But we are not prepared for the full impact of this and the Government decides to make it law dur- ing the summer recess when there is no Minister to answer for it.”
Meanwhile, the Consumers’ Association of Ireland has called on shoppers to boycott the charge, which became law on August 13.
Dermot Jewell of the Consumers Association de- scribed the charges as another tax being levied on the Loy eTieneates