Each year millions of tonnes of WEEE is generated in the EU, but only 30% is reported as properly collected and recycled. The Critical Raw Materials Closed Loop Recovery Project aims to increase the recovery of target CRMs by 5% by 2020 and by 20% by 2030. With this in mind the project has invested in trials exploring novel ways of boosting the collection and recovery of critical raw materials (CRMs) from household waste electrical and electronic products (WEEE). Held across the UK, Italy, Germany and the Czech Republic, the collection trials mechanisms included retailer take-back schemes; reuse containers at household waste recycling centres, business collections, university drop-off hubs, school collections and other collection events. RecyclingBörse (also known as ‘AKR’), based in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany, collects and re-markets used products in its own second-hand shops across the region and also runs a certified WEEE recycling facility. AKR is an independent and not-for-profit organisation, with a mission to promote re-use. It also has the capability to test and evaluate collected WEEE items according to technical and market criteria. Within the CRM Recovery project, AKR trialled three collection methods: Re-Use Olympics, ‘Re-Box’ and ‘Re-Bag’. Find out more about Critical Raw Material Recovery Closed Loop Project: http://www.criticalrawmaterialrecovery.eu

1.
With
the
contribution
of
the
LIFE
financial
instrument
of
the
European
Community
Three
ways
to
get
great
WEEE
recycling
results
Each
year
millions
of
tonnes
of
waste
electrical
and
electronic
equipment
(WEEE)
is
generated
in
the
EU,
but
only
30%
is
reported
as
properly
collected
and
recycled.
The
Critical
Raw
Materials
(CRM)
Closed
Loop
Recovery
Project
aims
to
increase
the
recovery
of
target
materials
by
5%
by
2020
and
by
20%
by
2030.
With
this
in
mind
the
project
has
invested
in
trials
exploring
novel
ways
of
boosting
the
collection
and
recovery
of
critical
raw
materials
from
household
WEEE.
Held
across
the
UK,
Italy,
Germany
and
the
Czech
Republic,
the
collection
trials
mechanisms
included
retailer
take-­‐back
schemes;
re-­‐use
containers
at
household
waste
recycling
centres,
business
collections,
university
drop-­‐off
hubs,
school
collections
and
other
collection
events.
Promoting
re-­‐use
in
Germany
RecyclingBörse
(also
known
as
‘AKR’),
based
in
North
Rhine-­‐Westphalia
in
Germany,
collects
and
re-­‐markets
used
products
in
its
own
second-­‐hand
shops
across
the
region
and
also
runs
a
certified
WEEE
recycling
facility.
AKR
is
an
independent
and
not-­‐for-­‐profit
organisation,
with
a
mission
to
promote
re-­‐
use.
It
also
has
the
capability
to
test
and
evaluate
collected
WEEE
items
according
to
technical
and
market
criteria.

2.
With
the
contribution
of
the
LIFE
financial
instrument
of
the
European
Community
Within
the
CRM
Recovery
project,
AKR
trialled
three
collection
methods:
METHOD
1
-­‐
RE-­‐USE
OLYMPICS
Six
secondary
schools
in
the
area
of
Herford
participated
in
this
trial.
For
each
school,
a
collection
day
was
agreed
and
advertised
in
advance.
Figure
1
-­‐
Re-­‐use
Olympics
process
At
the
end
of
the
trial,
representatives
of
these
schools
were
invited
to
receive
an
award
and
hear
Sven
Grieger,
of
CRM
Recovery
partner
EARN,
outline
the
importance
of
recycling
critical
raw
materials
from
WEEE.
All
schools
received
a
50€
voucher
for
the
second-­‐hand
warehouses
of
AKR
in
recognition
of
their
participation
in
the
project.
Three
schools
were
also
each
awarded
a
200€
cheque
for
the
best
outcome
of
collected
re-­‐usable
items,
the
total
collected
WEEE,
and
the
best
performance
per
student.
50
secondary
schools
invited
to
take
part
Six
schools
participated
Pupils
asked
to
bring
in
re-­‐
usable
WEEE
items
WEEE
collection
day
agreed
and
promoted
Pupils
brought
in
WEEE
items
Awards
ceremony
to
celebrate
success

3.
With
the
contribution
of
the
LIFE
financial
instrument
of
the
European
Community
METHOD
2
–
‘RE-­‐BOX’
The
Re-­‐Box
was
developed
to
collect
re-­‐usable
items
from
households
in
a
convenient
manner
and
to
minimise
damage
during
storage
and
transportation.
The
collection
was
not
limited
to
WEEE.
Figure
2:
Re-­‐Box
for
households
In
total,
33%
of
the
boxes
allocated
were
returned
to
AKR.
1%
of
these
were
used
for
WEEE
only.
The
others
contained
WEEE
and
items
such
as
books,
toys
and
games.
METHOD
3
–
‘RE-­‐BAG’
The
Re-­‐Bag
is
an
established
method
for
AKR
to
collect
used
clothes
from
households.
In
this
trial,
householders
were
also
asked
to
include
re-­‐usable
WEEE
items.
100,000
bags
were
distributed.

4.
With
the
contribution
of
the
LIFE
financial
instrument
of
the
European
Community
Figure
3:
Re-­‐Bag
and
example
of
collected
contents
Over
the
course
of
2.5
months
approximately
4,000
bags
were
returned,
of
which
around
200
contained
small
WEEE.
Re-­‐usable
WEEE
appliances
accounted
for
6.5%.
The
trial
in
numbers
*
the
overall
ratios
of
collected
items
that
were
then
re-­‐used
Trial
impacts
and
learnings
-­‐ The
secondary
school
pupils
who
took
part
in
the
Re-­‐use
Olympics
are
now
much
more
aware
of
the
importance
of
WEEE
collection
and
re-­‐use.
-­‐ Re-­‐Box
is
considered
to
be
a
good
method
of
awareness-­‐raising
for
recycling
and
re-­‐
use.
It
also
provides
an
ideal
opportunity
to
offer
an
additional
option
for
returning
Weight
collected
Items
collected
Weight
re-­‐use
Items
re-­‐use
kg
%
No.
%
kg
%
No.
%
Re-­‐Use
Olympics
2,629.8
90.2%
720
68.6%
112.92
4.3%
45
6.3%
Re-­‐Box
91.87
3.2%
67
6.4%
13.12
14.3%
6
9.0%
Re-­‐Bag
193.5
6.6%
262
25%
16.49
8.5%
29
11.1%
Total
2,915.17
100%
1,049
100%
142.53
4.9%*
80
7.6%*

5. With
the
contribution
of
the
LIFE
financial
instrument
of
the
European
Community
small
WEEE
items.
Public
feedback
was
positive,
although
it
should
be
noted
that
there
may
be
a
kind
of
“giveaway”
impact,
in
that
the
(free)
boxes
may
well
be
appreciated
for
other
purposes.
-­‐ Re-­‐Bag
is
a
good
method
of
raising
awareness
due
to
the
high
distribution
rate
and
relatively
cheap
production
costs.
The
quantity
collected
is
limited,
but
it
is
nonetheless
a
successful
means
of
reducing
the
amount
of
small
WEEE
that
ends
up
in
household
general
waste
bins.
-­‐ A
‘Re-­‐Envelope’
trial
was
initiated,
whereby
local
retailers
would
have
been
involved
in
a
postal
WEEE
collection.
Customers
would
be
supplied
with
envelopes
in
the
shops
in
order
to
send
smartphones
directly
to
AKR.
However,
retailer
interest
was
quite
limited.
It
also
transpired
that
ADR,
implemented
via
the
Carriage
of
Dangerous
Goods
and
Use
of
Transportable
Pressure
Equipment
Regulations,
combined
with
mail
providers’
concerns,
made
it
too
complicated
to
send
items
with
embedded
Lithium
Ion
batteries.
Benefits
CRM
Recovery
project
funding
has
helped
to
test
and
demonstrate
a
number
of
scalable
methods
of
WEEE
collection.
A
grand
total
of
2,915kg
of
devices
were
collected
via
the
three
approaches.
Around
142.5kg
of
these
were
considered
as
re-­‐usable.
The
six
secondary
schools
that
took
part
in
the
Re-­‐use
Olympics
initiative
collected
a
total
of
112.9kg
of
re-­‐usable
devices.
Had
this
initiative
been
tested
within
the
50
schools
initially
invited,
this
figure
could
have
increased
to
940.83kg.
As
a
further
(very
basic)
extrapolation,
according
to
the
German
Federal
Statistical
Office
there
are
around
7,793
similar
schools
across
Germany
(general
secondary,
grammar
schools
and
Integrated
Comprehensives).
If
every
one
of
these
schools
took
part
in
a
Re-­‐use
Olympics,
based
on
the
trial,
146,638kg
of
re-­‐usable
devices
could
be
collected.