EucoLight, the European association of lighting WEEE compliance schemes, objects to the European Commission plan to introduce a contribution on non-collected e-waste.
On July 16, 2025, the European Commission announced a proposal for the EU’s long-term budget for 2028-2034 (Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF)) that introduces a new “own resource” based on the amount of e-waste in each Member State that is not collected annually. The contribution will result from the application of a call rate of 2€/kg, annually adjusted for inflation, to the weight of non-collected e-waste. This is expected to generate around €15.0 billion annually, on average, according to the European Commission.
EucoLight expresses serious doubts as to whether such a tax will help to achieve better collection of e-waste, quality of recycling and improve circularity. Producers are already taking most of the financial burden for taking care of the products they put on the market until after their use phase. The tax might deter investment in waste management and create a significant new bureaucratic burden to report and calculate the relevant quantities of non-collected e-waste.
