During the event “Italy, a leader in Europe in the Home Appliance Sector” organized by Ceced in Rome, industry affirmed once again the role of home appliance to build a circular economy, as stated by Paolo Falcioni, general director of Ceced Europe and Marco Imparato, general director of Ceced Italy. During the meeting the Home Appliance Europe 2015-6 report was presented, providing details of the contribution the home appliance sector makes to the European economy. During the last two years, the sector reached a turnover of 44 billion euro annually, creating at the same time 230,000 direct jobs (and nearly one-million jobs overall). Among the main targets of the sector in Europe, there is the correct management of Weee, an essential part of the circular economy that remains a priority of the whole society.
«The aim to reduce waste and ensure a full circularity of the economy – Falcioni said – goes beyond what economic actors alone can do: it embraces all our society and is a societal challenge. In effect, we need a circular society approach to ensure a circular economy. The home appliance sector is and had been playing its part. It has already a proven record of energy and resource efficiency, circular from the outset. The sector has continuously provided a significant contribution through designing and manufacturing innovative products that cut resource use, especially energy and water, save labour as well as time and money, and reducing waste».
About this subject, some difficulties still remain, due to the high metal content and intrinsic economic value of large appliances so that a large share of all e-waste is handled outside the industry. With only one-third of e-waste effectively traced in Europe success was as much about enforcing legislation as a full societal effort, not just making laws.
