We have them scattered all over the house, stuffed in drawers, or in a garage somewhere in a box. Old mobile phones, mp3 players, smartphones, hairdryers, razors. Often unused. They are, however, hazardous waste, containing precious metals and rare raw materials. For this reason, after months of work and refinements, the so-called "One for zero" decree has been published in the Official Gazette, governing the collection by retail outlets larger than 400 square metres of small and very small electronic devices, with no obligation to make a purchase.

In other words, from 22 July, all electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) smaller than 25 centimetres can be dropped off free of charge at large retailers across the country, which will be obliged to accept them.

Electronic waste, a new collection system

"With this decree we want to prevent the small and large technologies that are part of citizens' everyday lives from becoming, at the end of their life, waste and therefore a cost for everyone," declared Environment Minister Gian Luca Galletti. "Instead, as the positive data on WEEE collection in Italy show, they must be a resource within the circular economy supply chain, towards which Italy is moving with great determination and, from today, with one more very useful tool."
"We are satisfied with the improvements made to the initial drafts. Any action that benefits consumers and the environment obviously and rightly has our support," stressed Davide Rossi, director general of Aires Confcommercio, the association representing Italy's leading retailers. "The decree aims for maximum simplification of procedures for the benefit of both consumers and the distribution sector. This is the first essential step towards successfully launching this new collection system. Now that the rules have been established, it is necessary for the implementing guidelines to be drawn up clearly and unambiguously, and shared with the supervisory bodies."

WEEE collection. A true mine of precious metals

Confirmation comes from the latest Green Economy Report published by Remedia, one of the collective collection systems operating across the country for WEEE management: in 2015, 817 tonnes of technological waste were correctly collected. Translated into real terms, this means a saving of 70,000 tonnes of resources. Indeed, 92 per cent of the volumes processed were directed towards recycling and energy recovery, reducing raw material import costs by approximately 16 million euros.

A mine of steel, iron, copper, aluminium, as well as plastic and glass. The Report indicates that as much as 88.4 per cent of the technological waste collected and processed was sent for material recovery.