What do we see?
Between 2010 and 2019 the total number of EEE items almost doubled, reaching a total of around 95 million pieces. This was mainly due to an extension of the reporting scope to new and lightweight EEE categories such as LED lights, toners, cables, power strips, electricity adapters and battery chargers. In terms of weight, however, the total amount for new EEE items in 2019 was similar to that in 2010, around 150 kt. In 2017, new conversion units were adopted, which explains the drop of around 20 kt that year. This number over weight trend shows the impact of new and lightweight EEE categories on material use and the need to take these into account as well.
What’s the aim?
In a circular economy we aim to reduce the amount of resources – and therefore also the weight of the materials – that are needed to fulfil a certain function. The availability of new and lightweight products that substitute previous (and heavier) ones is shown by the constant trend in the weight of EEE products per household per year. Lightweight products could answer the need to fulfil the same function with a lower amount of materials, but this should be analysed further before we can come to a conclusion.
What does this indicator measure?
The EEE POM indicator describes the number of new EEE items put on the market for households per year. One way to express it is the total weight of all the items put on the market. The data for Flanders was provided by companies reporting to Recupel.
