On behalf of the Steering Committee, I have the honor to welcome you to the third conference.
The year 2002 came along with important news and decisions:
* On the legal side: several additional countries published their position about the ELV's European Directory.
* On the economical side: the ELV's depollution costs became more precise due to the operators experiences gained with their recent practice.
In order to launch and to feed the forthcoming discussions, I would like to present today's position of the Belgian Confederation of Recycling (COBEREC) about its ELV’s treatment organization.
Two years of operation with the Belgian transcription of the EU Directory gives us some early conclusions about the real problems we are all going to face in the near future in Europe:
* The creation of certified depollution centers is a big investment and the dismantlers and shredders are reluctant to take such an investment decision.
* 15 depollution centers are now open
in Belgium, but they treat only 20% of
the ELV flow, which means about 60000 ELV's for 2002. Those 15 centers are designed for a total capacity of nearly 200000 ELV's per year. They are consequently in poor economic situation, missing too much feed.
* The export of ELV's to foreign countries is booming, in spite of the Belgium ELV’s definition and the European prohibitions of waste export.