Only around 3.

3 million tons of the estimated total of 9.

3 million tons of e-waste was officially reported to authorities as collected and treated across Europe in 2012.

E-waste contains materials such as gold, copper and palladium, which makes it very valuable on the black market, attracting not only single illegal operators but also organised criminal groups.

What is worse, e-waste also contains hazardous substances such as mercury and cadmium.

Therefore illegal e-waste handling, often in poorer countries, leads to huge health issues and environmental pollution, whilst undercutting legitimate treatment facilities.

Illegal trade in WEEE undermines the EU’s attempt to make the economy circular and more sustainable.

The CWIT consortium is taking on the challenge of providing a set of recommendations aimed at authorities and stakeholders to assist them in countering WEEE illegal trade.

The conference will be interactive in nature, allowing for dialogue with recyclers, producers, producer responsibility organisations, enforcement agencies, policy-makers, prosecutors and academia.

The consortium will present the final recommendations resulting from the project, for example its findings about the “WEEE market”, WEEE flows and actors involved in recycling and trade, as well as the factors driving criminal groups towards illegal trade of WEEE.

Conference admission is free of charge and we very much hope that you are interested to participate.

As places are limited, conference organisers may accept a maximum of 2 attendees per organisation.

For registration and more information please visit the conference webpage.

You can already add the event to your Outlookor Googlecalendar.

We very much look forward to seeing you this June in Lyon!Kind regards,WEEE Forum