Archive - Thursday, 18 April 2002


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Goodwill message

CONSERVATIVE environment spokesman in the European Parliament, Robert Goodwill, MEP from Terrington, is warning that Britain could face a repeat of the 'Fridge Mountain' fiasco, which has seen thousands of discarded refrigerators stockpiled.

A new EU directive means that all electrical equipment with a battery or cable will in future have to be disposed of in environmentally-friendly ways. This includes everything from personal computers, mobile phones and televisions to kitchen appliances, children's toys and even such things as 'musical socks'. This amounts to one million tonnes per year in the UK.

Speaking after the vote on the Electronic Waste Directive in the European Parliament, Mr Goodwill said that the UK Government must learn lessons from the mountain of fridges.

He said: "Unless waste facilities are in place to process this equipment and markets developed for the recycled material produced, we will have a repeat of the fridge fiasco - thousands of unwanted electrical goods piling up with no means of disposal."

He said that failure to deal adequately with the EU directive on refrigerators has cost £60m.

Mr Goodwill said the Government will have three years to put systems in place for the new legislation. "It must not leave everything until the last minute as it did with fridges."

Updated: 09:55 Thursday, April 18, 2002