5.  Assoc. Prof. Ong Soh Khim asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources whether Singapore has any plans (i) for a directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) similar to that of the European Parliament Direction 2002/96/EC on WEEE; (ii) to prevent WEEE, promote the reuse, recycling and other forms of recovery of such waste so as to reduce disposal; and (iii) to improve the environmental performance of all operators involved in the life-cycle of electrical and electronic equipment. 

     The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (Assoc. Prof. Koo Tsai Kee) (for the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources):  Sir, the European Community's Directive 2002/96/EC requires EU member countries to introduce laws in their respective countries by 13th August 2004 which mandate that producers of electrical and electronic equipment must collect, reuse, recycle and dispose of such equipment when it goes into the waste stream. Under the Directive, EU member countries require producers of electrical and electronic equipment to put in place measures for the separate collection of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) by 13th August 2005 at their own cost. The Directive also sets a target of collecting, on average, at least 4 kg per person per year of WEEE from households by 31st December 2006.  
 
     Many EU countries have not been able to meet the deadlines set in the Directive.  Measures for the separate collection of WEEE have not been implemented in some EU countries. A few have yet to introduce legislation to implement the Directive.  Singapore should, therefore, Sir, follow these developments very closely and evaluate the effectiveness of introducing a similar Directive prematurely.

     There is no problem with the disposal of WEEE in Singapore currently.  Why?  Because most used electrical and electronic equipment in Singapore are sold to second-hand goods traders or what we call the karang guni men or women, while some are donated to charitable organisations, which is increasingly the case. In addition, companies such as Hewlett Packard, Canon, Dell and Nokia have put in place schemes to take back used electrical and electronic equipment from their customers for recycling.  Why?  Because they are valuable products.  The equipment collected are either refurbished for reuse or sent to recycling facilities locally or overseas.  As a result, there is hardly any electrical and electronic equipment found in the waste disposed of at the four incineration plants and Semakau landfill in Singapore.

     My Ministry will monitor the situation and study the practices in other countries of recycling WEEE.  The National Environment Agency (NEA) will also continue to work with producers and importers of electrical and electronic equipment to raise awareness and share best practices of WEEE management.