Archived press release

Dixons in Green Dock over Waste

25 October 1997

Dixon's - the UK's largest electrical retailer - will be the target for campaigners on Saturday 25 October calling for the lifespan of electrical goods to be increased and protesting at the company's failure to take back goods for repair, reuse or recycling. Around 6 million electrical items are dumped in the UK [1] every year causing immense environmental damage. The European Union will shortly discuss proposals for a new law [2] which could ensure that electrical goods last longer and are repaired, reused and recycled.

Eighty five Friends of the Earth groups throughout the UK will take part in the day of action which is calling on Dixon's and the UK electricals industry to:
* pay for the collection of electrical goods for reuse and recycling,
* label products with their expected lifespan,
* offer free extended guarantees.

Anna Thomas, Waste Campaigner at Friends of the Earth said:
“Throwaway products have a major impact on the natural environment -precious resources are squandered to make new products, mountains of waste are created during mining, and the manufacturing process pumps out pollution and wastes energy. Companies such as Dixons must start acting more responsibly by making the products last longer and taking them back for recycling and repair [3].

The proposed European Directive is the first 'producer responsibility' Directive for household consumer goods. It should ensure manufacturers take responsibility for their product from cradle to grave. Friends of the Earth is opposing demands by manufacturers and retailers that the cost of collection should fall on Council Tax payers [4]. FOE believes that the costs should fall on industry, hence providing them with an incentive to ensure that goods are designed for durability, reuse and recycling.

As an added incentive FOE are also calling for consumers to be empowered through the mandatory labelling of expected lifespans of goods. Free extended warranties would further encourage manufacturers to produce reliable goods that are easily repairable.

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Anna Thomas continued:
“The proposed new law must have tough recycling and reuse targets, and ensure that the costs fall on industry. It is already clear that the electrical goods industry is resisting change and trying to force Council Tax payers to pick up any tab. Instead, the industry should be putting its energies into improved environmental design.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] End-of-Life Electronic Equipment Waste, Centre for Exploitation of Science and Technology, 1991.

[2] Working Paper on the Management of Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment, European Commission, DGXI.E3/FE D(97), 9 October 1997.

[3] Around a million tonnes of materials are consumed by electrical goods in the UK each year.

A TV contains around 5kg of metals; mining and processing of the metals in a single TV will have created around a quarter of a tonne of waste.

Overconsumption of resources is at the root of many environmental problems. Examples of the impacts are:

. Mining of metals leaves behind vast amounts of toxic waste, and destroys habitats
For example, the Ok Tedi river in Papua New Guinea, next to a copper mine, is permanently yellow or grey, and all the trees along the banks are dead. 80,000 tonnes of waste from the mine has been dumped in the river every day.

. Mining and manufacturing use fossil fuel energy, resulting in climate-changing gas emissions
Industrial processes account for over a quarter of UK carbon dioxide emissions.

. Manufacturing and waste disposal cause toxic pollution
Pollution has become so widespread that industrial toxins are found in the bodies of Polar bears in the Arctic.

New research, to be published by Friends of the Earth in November, will show that consumption of metals in the UK eventually needs to be reduced by around 80% if we are not to breach environmental limits, and the UK takes only its share of world resources.

[4] Industry Council for Electronic Equipment Recycling, National Plan for Increased Recycling of Electrical and Electronic Equipment in the UK, First Integrated Draft, July 1997

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust