Collection and recycling of WEEE
Let’s suppose, dear reader, that your washing machine goes wrong, or you just decide to replace an old machine with a modern, better and environmentally safer one… Have you ever thought of what will happen to your old, faithful washing machine when you buy a new one? Will you take it to your holiday home in the country if it still works? Would you get rid of it in a municipal bulk trash collection campaign? Or would you secretly dump it with its companions piled up on the edge of a forest? Or are you one of those who would spare no time, money and trouble to deliver, or arrange for the delivery of, your old appliance to a waste yard designated as a storage area for waste electronic equipment?No matter what your answer is, you should know that since August 13, 2005, this has been something that requires no action at all on your part. Since that day, you can be sure that your old discarded washing machine will be taken, via a properly built system, to a waste management site responsible for recycling such devices with modern technology conforming to European standards. Those components suitable for recycling will be fed back into manufacturing, while materials that cannot be further used will be destroyed and disposed of in an environmentally safe manner.
Of course, this does applies not only to washing machines, but to all electrical and electronic products including small and large household equipment, consumer electronics and DIY machines.
How is this system built?
Return of old machines
When you decide to buy a new device to replace an old one, your dealer is obliged to collect the old device at no cost to you according to a regulation in effect since August 13, 2005. Obviously, replacing a small appliance is no problem; for example, when you buy a new hair dryer, you take the old one to the shop and simply give it to the shop assistants or put it in a container as they direct. But you may rightly ask what you should do with an old refrigerator, which you cannot simply take to the shop in a rucksack… Well, you don’t have to - the dealer will most probably deliver the new appliance to your home, in which case you can ask, and should ask, to take your old appliance away at no extra charge to you by the car that brought the new one to you.The next part of the story, in our case the further disposal of your washing machine, does not directly affect you; nevertheless, we will now shortly explain this in the hope that you are an environmentally aware consumer interested in this matter or, if you are not, you will soon be joining this group of consumers which is quite small for the time being.
Recycling
The handling of electronic waste and the development of the system necessary for this is in the common interest of manufacturers and consumers. Fortunately, legislators have come to our help by creating the legal framework necessa
Refrigerators and environmental protection
Why is an “FCKW free” refrigerator, the cooling agent and other parts of which contain no freon, environmentally friendly? Why and when is this important?
In fact, when your refrigerator functions properly in your home, you, as a consumer, do not have to deal with this problem at all. But, it becomes important when you plan to get rid of your machine. In that case, it does make a difference whether the old device is put on the edge of a street or ditch or taken to a professional recycling plant. In the former case, if the discarded refrigerator is taken apart unprofessionally, the hazardous substances and gases in it will immediately escape into the air when the pipe system is damaged. If this substance happens to be freon, and quite a lot of equipment containing freon is in use today, it will escape and damage the ozone layer, thereby largely contributing to global warming. Based on these two criteria, it has now been determined what treatment the different hazardous substances require when refrigerators are taken apart.
Until the early 1990’s, such hazardous substances (e.g. CFCs, or chlorofluorocarbons, such as freon, or HCFC, or hydrochlorofluorocarbons) were used in refrigerators; we now know that such substances damage the ozone layer and significantly contribute to global warming when used in an unprofessional manner or allowed to escape when taken apart. Their use was prohibited in the EU in the mid-90’s.
By now, CFCs and HCFCs have been replaced by HFCs and HCs, that is, hydroflourocarbons and hydrocarbones. The former do not damage the ozone layer but have a significant impact on global warming, exceeding critical grade 15. On the other hand, HCs with global warming impact grade 3-4 provide an environmentally much safer solution.
According to current EU and Hungarian regulations, hazardous substances that damage the ozone layer and those with a global warming impact grade of 15 or above require professional treatment. Refrigerators now being sold can be regarded as environmentally friendly, but the majority of refrigerators in use in households contain hazardous substances that are now prohibited. In addition to energy efficiency, this is another reason for considering the replacement of old refrigerators with modern environmentally-friendly ones as soon as possible. Should you decide to replace your refrigerator, please remember that since August 13, 2005, dealers have been obliged to take away old appliances at no cost. In this way, you can make sure that your trusty old device will be taken apart in a professional and environmentally safe manner.
