MedTech Europe’s Key Recommendations for the Revision of Directive 2012/19/EU on Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment

Turning waste into a resource forms an essential part of a Circular Economy. As the European Commission prepares for the revision of the EU’s e-waste rules, MedTech Europe publishes a set of recommendations on how to modernise today’s framework for the management of medical waste, electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), in support of more circularity in healthcare.

In particular, MedTech Europe recommends striving for regulatory coherence of the WEEE Directive with other environmental legislation (namely, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, the Batteries and Waste Batteries Regulation and the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation). Better alignment is also needed with the sector-specific regulatory framework (Medical Devices Regulation and In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation) to curb inconsistencies and overlaps.

Besides, a better harmonisation of WEEE management, fragmented reporting and registration requirements bear significant simplification and administrative burden reduction potential. We recommend turning the Directive into a Regulation and introducing a “one-stop shop digital EPR gateway at EU level” for EPR registration and reporting. MedTech Europe also supports the adoption of EU-wide harmonised standards laying down minimum common waste treatment conditions.

Finally, the revision offers the opportunity to introduce further scope clarifications and to continue acknowledging the sector-specificities with respect to infected medical waste.

Read more about our WEEE review recommendations here.