Symposium on Sound Management and Economic Competitiveness in the field of WEEE - Sharing European and Japanese experiences - (as of 11 September 2015)

Symposium on Sound Management and Economic Competitiveness
in the field of WEEE -Sharing European and Japanese experiences- (as of 11 September 2015)

Date & Time Symposium: 12 November 2015 13:00-17:00
Informal Discussion: 13 November 2015 9:30-12:30 (To be determined)

Venue Central Area in Tokyo (To be determined)

Language English

Organizer Ministry of Environment, Japan

Secretariat Consultant (To be confirmed)

Participants Symposium: Government officials and Experts (Industry, and Academia) (Public Session with 200 audience)
Informal discussion: Experts (Japan/EU) and Government officials of Japan (Ministry of the Environment(MOE), Ministry of the Economy, Trade and Industry(METI)) (Closed Session)

Purpose
Under the aspiration of "Resource Efficiency" (RE) and "Circular Economy" (CE), various types of efforts to decouple economic growth from its negative impacts on natural resources and environment are being taken in the world. Among them, waste electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE) has been one of the key agenda for more than decades.

In the European Union (EU), the original WEEE Directive entered into force in 2003 and was recasted in 2012 in order to create and strengthen take-back and treatment systems for WEEE. As for the treatment system, a series of European Standards (ENs) for collection, logistics, and treatment requirements for WEEE are under development.

In Japan, Home Appliance Recycling Law entered into force in 1999 and subsequently Promotion of Recycling of Small Domestic Appliance Law entered into force in 2014 in order to promote the recycling of small domestic appliances. Although sound management and recycling business in the field of WEEE have been developed and sophisticated according to those Laws, systematic problems such as illegal shipments of WEEE to third countries and traceability starting from collection, to logistics, to final treatment of WEEE remain unsolved.

This symposium aims to share experiences among Japan and Europe and introduce good practices and specific measures taken in Europe, such as development of EN standards to public audiences. Participants will share opinions on sound management and economic competitiveness in Europe and Japan.

In addition, back to back to the Symposium, the closed meeting is prepared for Experts (Japan/EU) and Japanese government officials (MOE and METI) to exchange opinions and experiences on effective legislation and implementation of sound management of WEEE between European and Japanese experts.

Programme
Nov 12
I. Symposium
1. Opening Remark (13:00~13:05)
Organizer
An official - Ministry of Environment, Japan (To be confirmed) and METI?

2. Presentations(13:05~15:30)
Session 1: "Germany government policy of Resource efficiency (Circular Economy) and recent topics focusing on WEEE"in Japan and Germany
MOE(tbd)
Ms. Regina Kohlmeyer - Federal Environment Agency, Germany

Session 2: The EU WEEE Directive
Mr. Thorsten Brunzema - WEEE expert (former EC official)

Session 3: Roles of Recyclers and practices of European Standards (ENs) under the framework of WEEE Directive (To be confirmed)
Mr. Norbert Zonneveld - Executive Secretary of European Electronics Recycling Association (EERA)

Session 4: A series of European Standards (ENs) for collection, logistics, and treatment requirements for WEEE
Ms. Andrea Nam - CENELEC(European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization)

3. Panel Discussion (16:00~17:00)
Facilitator:
Mr. Yoshiaki Ichikawa - Hitachi Ltd., IEC TC 111 Chairman

Panelists:
Ms. Regina Kohlmeyer - Federal Environment Agency, Germany
Mr.Thorsten Brunzema - WEEE expert
Mr.Norbert Zonneveld - EERA
Ms.Andrea Nam
Industries from Japan (To be determined)

Nov 13
II Informal discussion (9:30~12:30)(To be determined)
1. Presentation (MOE or METI)
2. Discussion

For Japanese