Conformity assessment of WEEE take-back schemes - The case of switzerland

Three collective WEEE take-back schemes in Switzerland, SENS, Swico Recycling and SLRS have developed a third-party conformity assessment approach which is based on a joint technical standard. The aim of the conformity assessment is to judge if a treatment operator adheres to the prescribed quality standards and the environmental aspects of his operation and to determine his performance against prescribed recycling and recovery quotas. The audit process is well established and accepted by the treatment operators. It is designed in a way that it serves as a basis for increasing the recycling performance and reducing the environmental impact of the operations. The paper presents the conformity assessment approach chosen, the scope and its major elements. Future challenges as for example the recovery of critical metals embedded in end-of life electrical and electronic products are outlined and other conformity assessment approaches are presented.