Shops will have to take back old electric and electronic goods from the middle of August under regulations to be announced today by the Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche.
Under the changes, Ireland will become only the second country in the European Union - after Greece - to implement the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive.
About 65,000 tonnes of old televisions, computers, washing machines, etcetera are thrown out every year in the Republic - while just 15,000 tonnes are currently recycled.
"We are trying to do something that is very ambitious. We are talking about a big challenge here, but if everybody pulls their weight and supports the project it will work," the Minister declared yesterday However, industry warns that the changes will cost manufacturers up to €40 million annually just for recycling old machines recovered in the Republic alone, while retailers will be faced with collection and storage costs.
The UK, France and Germany have all delayed the introduction of the directive - which was bitterly fought over in the European Parliament - for up to a year.
Once in place, customers will be able to "bring back their old toaster" to the shop when they are buying a new one, or else have an old washing machine collected by the store when it delivers a newer model to the home.
In addition, the public will be able to bring white goods to 60 local authority recycling centres and dump outdated machines for free. Currently, the public has to pay to do this.
Manufacturers will have to pay for the recycling costs of all goods sold after August 13th, though the costs of recycling machines made over the last 50 years and more will be split proportionately.
The Department of the Environment has to set up a registration board to monitor sales figures, so that each company pays its proper share for the recycling costs of equipment replaced during the year. Under the directive, the State must recover 4kgs of such waste per head of population as a short-term target, which amounts to about 16,000 tonnes.
Norway and Switzerland, who are accepted as the leaders in this area, currently recycle 11kgs per person, said Brendan Palmer of Electronic Recycling Ltd, which separates 500 tonnes of such waste annually.
"Ireland is ahead of the posse. Greece has already done it. We seem to have pushed the boat out a bit quicker," said Mr Palmer, though he believed the State "could handle" the difficulties caused by the new regulation.
Electronic Recycling Ltd, he said, currently sends the separated waste abroad for final recycling, though he was hopeful a number of recycling plants could be built here in time.
"We are separating the waste, but not getting the full value from the recycling. All of the materials can be recycled. The value right now is going to the UK and Europe," he told The Irish Times.
