France to Tax Electrical Equipment!
France is going green and it will cost if you plan on buying electrical equipment. Electrical equipment will be taxed with an “ecoparticiation“, cannot be thrown out and must be recycled. The “ecoparticipation” tax will pay for the recycling of the equipment. Computers, monitors, TVs, vacuum cleaners and other similar items will require recycling through the new system. French consumers will have the choice of taking their electrical equipment back to the shop they bought it, giving it to town council to dispose of or taking it to a recycling centre.
Another option is for consumers to give their unwanted equipment to organisations, who will take it away, repair it and sell it on to low-income households.
How much will the “ecoparticipation” cost?
The tax ranges from 1 cent for Cell Phones to approximately 13 euros (for fridges and washing machines for example).
Manufacturers are quite concerned with this new directive as they will now be forced to follow the strict guidelines. They will be required to choose an “eco-organism” to work with, plan and pay for their recycling in advance, train their staff and give the eco-organism quarterly reports on sales and recycling figures.
If people are reluctant to recycle and reduce their waste, governments need to step in to create change in our wasteful habits. I applaud the French for taking on this initiative. I would be willing to pay more to see the reduction of e-waste in our landfills. It amazes me how many electronic items are thrown out each day.
Technorati Tags: France, ecoparticipation, e-waste, electronic recycling, tax levy on consumer electronics
Written by steve on November 15th, 2006 with
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