EWC Code
Discarded equipment and electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)
EUR-Lex Commission Decision 2000/532/EC — Official Journal L 226, 06/09/2000Annual Volume
~10 Mt/year generated EU; ~5.5 Mt/year formally collected
Valorisation Range
€180–1,200/tonne (gold, silver, palladium content drives premium)
Primary Route
Precious Metal Urban Mining
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Get contacts for EWC 16 02EWC 16 02 is the waste code assigned to discarded electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) under the European Waste Catalogue. WEEE Directive 2012/19/EU (recast) establishes Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) obligations for manufacturers placing electrical and electronic equipment on the EU market, targeting ≥65% of average equipment weight placed on market collected and recycled annually.
WEEE is arguably the most complex heterogeneous waste stream in the EWC. A single smartphone contains 60+ elements from the periodic table — copper, gold, silver, palladium (in circuit boards), cobalt and lithium (battery), indium and gallium (display), tantalum (capacitors), and rare earth elements (magnets, speakers). The urban mining opportunity: one tonne of circuit boards contains 250–300g gold, versus 5–10g in a tonne of high-grade ore.
The formal collection gap — approximately 4.5 Mt/year in the EU goes uncollected into general waste or illegal export — drives a significant financial leakage from the recycling system. EU WEEE Directive revision (2023 proposal) targets improved collection rates and closes loopholes in second-hand export that mask illegal WEEE flows to West Africa and Southeast Asia.
Typical Generators
Established valorisation pathways for EWC 16 02, ranked by economic value and market depth. Precious Metal Urban Mining is the primary route.
Printed circuit boards (PCBs) from IT equipment processed by base metal smelters (Umicore, Aurubis) using copper smelter as PGM collector. PCB copper matrix acts as collector for Ag, Au, Pd, Pt. Hydromet refinery separates individual PGMs to 99.9%+ purity. Revenue: €300–1,200/t PCBs depending on Au/Pd loading.
Large household appliances (fridges, freezers, AC) depolluted before shredding: F-gas (HFCs/HCFCs) recovered by licensed contractors under F-Gas Regulation 2014/517/EU; compressor oils drained; mercury switches removed. Failure to depollute before shredding releases F-gases (GWP 1,000–10,000) and creates hazardous residues.
Functional WEEE components — hard drives (data-wiped to NIST 800-88), RAM, GPUs — tested, certified and re-marketed by ITAD operators. Refurbished smartphones (Recommerce, Back Market) fetch 40–70% of new device retail value. Right-to-repair legislation (EU Regulation 2024/1781) expanding the reuse market.
These are the established routes for EWC 16 02. Which one your stream qualifies for depends on its composition, volume and region.
Get the ranked options for your streamPrimary & secondary off-takers
WEEE authorised treatment facilities (ATFs) performing depollution, disassembly and material separation
OEM take-back schemes receiving branded WEEE for responsible recycling under EPR obligations
Secondary copper smelters using PCBs and wire harnesses as copper-rich feed material
Hazardous WEEE sub-codes: CRTs (Ba/Pb), fluorescent tubes (Hg), PCB-containing equipment (16 02 09*)
Source: NACE Rev.2 — Eurostat, 2008
Key legislative frameworks governing EWC 16 02 classification, transport, and treatment.
EPR scheme membership mandatory for EEE manufacturers. National PROs (compliance schemes) collect, report and audit WEEE recycling evidence. Target: 65% of average weight placed on market collected annually. Revision proposal (2023) targets 70% collection and closes second-hand export loopholes.
HFCs and HCFCs in refrigeration equipment must be recovered before shredding. Licensed F-gas recovery contractors required. Phase-down schedule eliminates high-GWP HFCs in new equipment by 2030. WEEE operators must evidence F-gas recovery in waste transfer documentation.
ITAD operators must provide certified data destruction (NIST 800-88 or DoD 5220.22-M standard wipe) for storage media in corporate IT WEEE. Certificate of data destruction required for GDPR compliance. Failure to destroy data before recycling creates data breach liability.
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Sectors that valorise EWC 16 02 as an input material or secondary raw material.
Waste-stream pages and resources connected to EWC 16 02 valorisation.
Explore EU waste flows — Waste Atlas
Visualise 17 years of E-PRTR industrial facility data. See how EWC 16 02 and related waste streams flow across European industries and sectors.
Source: EUR-Lex Commission Decision 2000/532/EC · NACE Rev.2 — Eurostat 2008
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