ANREEE celebrates its 5 years' activity and appeals for a single register entity
On 26th of October 2011, ANREEE celebrated its fifth year of activity as the entity responsible for registering all producers of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) and batteries and accumulators (B&A) operating in Portugal. ANREEE used the event to appeal to the creation of a single entity made to register all acts related to the environmental obligations of companies.
Welcoming the good results related to the growing number of producers of EEE during these last five years of activity, ANREEE alerted however to the effort that companies have to do, nowadays, to satisfy all environmental obligations through several bodies, forcing them to multiply payments and reports in a bureaucratic nightmare that compromises the effectiveness and cost savings.
"In the current economic situation, it makes no sense that companies have to disperse efforts to successfully meet its environmental obligations. So we wanted to present today a study developed by Premivalor and Abreu Lawyers' Society, that clearly shows the benefits for Portuguese companies if there is only a single register, which also starts to be a trend in other European Union countries , "explains Rui Cabral, executive director of ANREEE.
According to the same study, if ANREEE assumes the role of a single register entity for all environmental obligations, Portuguese companies can begin to pay an annual fee of 20 euros only, against more than 1,000 Euros now paid with all the bureaucratic process of multiple environmental reports.
Besides the economic aspect, if they wish to comply with all its environmental obligations, companies face the need to declare on multiple platforms, to various entities, not only products placed into the market (packaging, electrical and electronic equipment , batteries, oils, etc.) but also waste generated by their activities. "These processes are subject to different calendars and use different passwords accessing multiple platforms and different ways to report. That is, it's a dispersed process and time consuming where companies devote much time and effort to, and there isn't an integrated view, which easily leads companies to situations of failure by omission ", Rui Cabral said.
The contents concerning the creation of a single register entity had been previously exposed to the Ministry of Environment and is were well received.
To illustrate and compare the national reality with Europe, Alexander Goldberg, president of EWRN and Director of German EEE register (the largest EEE register of EU totaling more than 10,000 registered producers) attended the event as guest speaker. "The reality that currently exists in Portugal, with multiple registers does not make sense because itsn't easy to meet with all obligations and generates serious lack of effectiveness. It is very important that companies realize that there is a workaround, simple and feasible - and that will bring great benefits in the future, "he said.
The event had also a moment of debate, whith representatives of ANREEE, EWRN, Siemens, and the two Collective Schemes AMB3E and ERP.
The Secretary of State of Environment, Dr. Pedro Afonso de Paulo, gave us the honor of closing the session, calling on companies to maintain their present commitment to environmental responsibility and sustainability, increasingly seen as strong active enhancers of competitiveness for economic growth.
Our well-deserved recognition to all!
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