Revision of the EU Waste Shipment Regulation with regard to shipments of waste electrical and electronic equipment

In 2022, the parties to the Basel Convention amended the Convention to apply trade bans and prior informed consent (PIC) procedures to all transboundary movements of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) between Convention Parties beginning 1 January 2025. It is our understanding, that the OECD countries have not reached consensus on applying this amendment to shipments between OECD countries, so its members retain flexibility to apply the current OECD listings, adopt the amendments to the Basel Convention or pursue a different approach for intra-OECD shipments.

Bitkom recommends the retention of the Green List classification for intra-EU shipments of non-hazardous e-waste destined for recovery.

Retaining the current non-hazardous waste codes for WEEE and the related green list classifications for low-risk shipments between EU Member States still provides transparency and assurances of environmentally sound treatment of WEEE and the recovery of critical resources necessary to increase the use of recycled materials in new products as the shipments would still underlie the general information requirements under Article 18 of the Waste Shipment Regulation.