03-03-2005 Cooper Bussmann help fuses go green

However, the main purpose of this new Cooper Bussmann scheme is to help improve the environment in line with the requirements of the European Directive on Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (the WEEE Directive). This became a national standard in August 2004, but manufacturers of electrical and electronic equipment of all kinds have until August 2005 to set up a free collection and appropriate recycling system.

The scheme, overseen by BEAMA, is based on one that is already in operation in Germany. It will benefit all fuse users, and utilities in particular, as they are, by far, the greatest purchasers of larger fuselinks. If it were not for the Cooper Bussmann recycling scheme, fuse users would have to recycle used fuses themselves, with all the associated cost implications. As such, this new recycling scheme by Cooper Bussmann is yet another example of the extensive range of services that the company provides.

How it works:

The new scheme works in the following way: pallets for the collection of spent fuses will be placed at strategic points, such as on major industrial sites, and, when full, will be conveyed to the recycling plant. This recycling scheme will not be restricted to Cooper Bussmann's own fuse products; it will also include those of other participating manufacturers. Moreover, the scheme is self-financing in that the scrap pays for the recycling - with profits going to EEIBA.

Cooper Bussmann says that the very nature of fuselinks; their design, materials and construction, lends them to environmentally-friendly recycling without the need for the physical dismantling and separation of components. For example, copper, which accounts for about 26% of the content, and silver (0.1%), are easily recovered by smelting. When smelted, the ceramic body and silica sand filler, that together account for 60% of the typical fuselink, form a slag that is suitable for road building. Other metals, such as iron and steel, are bound into this slag.

For every tonne of fuse links recycled it is possible to regain about 220kg of copper and 2.5kg of silver, with annual sales of fuselinks in the UK equivalent to several hundred tonnes.

More about The WEEE Directive:

In relation to the EC Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)*, In 2004, the UK introduced legislation on electrical and electronic equipment in relation to its composition and the levels to which it should be recycled. This legislation has its origin in the EC Directives relating to WEEE and to the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) in WEEE.

DTI leads the EU negotiations on both Directives, all of RoHS implementation and on most aspects of UK implementation of WEEE. The Environment Agency (SEPA in Scotland and EHS in NI) will be the enforcement agencies for WEEE.

Responsibility for enforcement of the RoHS Directive has yet to be allocated by the DTI. Defra leads on certain aspects of domestic implementation, including drawing up guidance on how WEEE must be treated, waste permitting, assessing producers' compliance with the collection, recycling and recovery targets. The Environment Agency (SEPA in Scotland, EHS in NI) will enforce these aspects. Envirowise is funded by the Government to provide advice to business on how to make environmental regulations work for them.

* Information from the DTI website - www.dti.gov.uk/sustainability/weee

The picture shows a pile of blown fuses - help the EEIBA charity and the environment by recycling them, courtesy of Cooper Bussmann.