Intrigued by the WEEE Forum’s extensive list of projects, we asked Dimitris Kritikos, Technical Advisor at the WEEE Forum, to tell us a bit more about himself and the reasons behind joining Weee-Net9.
As an environmental engineer with 14 years of experience in the sector, I am currently providing input on several EU funded projects such as WEEE-NET9 at the WEEE Forum. I am especially motivated to see WEEE-NET9’s ambitious goals and expected outcomes for the recovery of critical raw materials (CRMs) from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and dissemination of good management practices.
The WEEE Forum is the world’s largest multi-national centre of competence as regards operational know-how concerning the management of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). Since its foundation in 2002, our not-for-profit association of 50 WEEE producer responsibility organisations from across the world participated to 10 EU funded projects of which 7 is still running. We have been contributing to CRM research and innovation on waste processing, advanced materials and substitution through not only our core work but by working on ProSUM, CEWASTE, ORAMA, FutuRaM, CE-RISE, and of course WEEE-NET9.
The WEEE Forum’s role in this project is to use its expertise and know-how to support the research activities, such as collecting data on the WEEE management status-quo in the WEEE RIS countries involved, promoting policy recommendations, contributing in designing and implementing the communication strategy plan, enhancing and expanding the project’s networking activities. We also actively engage in the dissemination of knowledge by organising matchmaking events with key target actors, and to ensure the long-term sustainability of WEEE-NET9 network.
The WEEE Forum is keen on projects that could improve the environmental performance of WEEE management, especially in countries that need more progress. The project’s main objectives, such as building the project’s ecosystem, identifying challenges and barriers, increasing awareness and collection, strengthening the WEEE recycling value chain, and maximizing the recovery of CRMs through innovative technologies, are in line with not only the EU’s but our goals as well.