Co-hosted by WEEE Ireland at Clontarf Castle, Dublin, on 17 and 18 September, the WEEE Forum International Conference 2026 – “From Challenge to Change”, brought together European delegates during Ireland’s EU Council presidency. High-level sessions addressed key priorities for the electronics value chain, including critical raw material security, European industrial resilience, the proposed “e-waste levy” as a new EU own resource, and the upcoming Circular Economy Act.
During the conference, senior representatives from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Environment highlighted the importance of ensuring that future WEEE collection targets properly account for long-life equipment, such as PV panels, heating and ventilation equipment. The current placed-on-market calculation can distort performance where equipment remains in use for many years before becoming waste. This issue is expected to be addressed in the new WEEE framework, with greater recognition of product lifetimes in how targets are calculated.
Closing the event, Pascal Leroy, Director General of the WEEE Forum, synthesised eight vital takeaways for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR): extending product stewardship to embrace broader societal responsibility; driving legislative reform, mutual recognition across the EU Single Market, and robust state enforcement; fostering cross-value-chain partnerships, notably between battery and WEEE sectors; addressing structural manufacturing hurdles; adapting strategic mindsets to global geopolitics; ensuring financial viability for circular models; motivating positive consumer choices; and implementing total system tracking.
By bringing international delegates, policymakers, and industry pioneers together, the conference translated complex regulatory and geopolitical challenges into actionable solutions. Leveraging Ireland’s local compliance achievements to inform EU governance, the event established a decisive mandate for cross-sector collaboration, robust enforcement, and enhanced resource resilience.