Elreturs environmental accounts
Last year, Elretur contributed to a total reduction in climate gas emissions equivalent to 340,000 metric tons of CO2. Taking a quota price for emissions of NOK 1,201 per metric ton as our starting point, the value of the reduction in emissions amounted to NOK 41 million, i.e. the social benefits cover a substantial proportion of the total costs of the take-back system for WEEE.
Why prepare environmental accounts?
Elretur’s job is to ensure there is a well-functioning take-back system for EEE that:
1. Ensures the proper treatment of environmental toxins.
2. Minimises the amount of waste that ends up in landfill sites/undergoes destruction.
3. Helps to reduce energy consumption and emissions of climate gases.
These environmental accounts document its contribution and are intended to communicate the importance of having a good take-back system.
Proper treatment of environmental toxins
EEE often contains a number of components that contain environmentally harmful substances. The environmental treatment of WEEE requires manual disassembly and is thus an expensive process. The risks and consequences that follow from the dispersal of environmental toxins justify the costs of environmental treatment.
The use of some environmental toxins in EEE is accepted because they result in lower costs and better products than would (with today's technology) be possible without the use of environmental toxins.
In 2009, 11,300 metric tons of hazardous waste were sorted out and treated, equivalent to approx. 18% of all WEEE.
Recovery reduces the quantity of waste that ends up in landfill sites
81% of the WEEE – 50,000 metric tons – was recovered and turned into new raw materials in 2009. Most of this was metal, though large amounts of plastic and CRT glass (from TVs and PC monitors) were also recovered. A further 6,200 metric tons (10% of the waste) went to energy recovery.
In 2009, the proportion of WEEE sent to thermal destruction or landfill sites amounted to 9% - 5,700 metric tons. Most of this was residual waste from metal shredders.
Reduced energy consumption and reduced emissions of climate gases
The recovery of scrap metals results in significant energy savings compared with the production of primary metals – the total savings were equivalent to almost 570 million kWh of electricity. This is equivalent to the electricity consumption of almost 30,000 Norwegian households.
In 2009, Elretur contributed to a total reduction in climate gas emissions equivalent to 340,000 metric tons of CO2. Taking a quota price for emissions of NOK 1,201 per metric ton as our starting point, the value of the reduction in emissions amounted to NOK 41 million, i.e. the social benefits cover a substantial proportion of the total costs of the take-back system for WEEE.
The management of CFC gases is still responsible for a large, but declining, part of the reduction in emissions (equivalent to 200,000 metric tons). Metal recycling also makes a substantial contribution (138,000 metric tons) to the calculated reduction.