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From Bulgaria

08.03.2011 15:44

Bulgaria won’t increase the ecological tax on consumer electronics

Control over the electronic waste treatment organizations will be tightened instead

AUTHOR: publics.bg

© Steve Bullivant @ flickr.com

The Ministry of Environment and Water of Bulgaria has given up its idea to increase the ecological tax on consumer electronic which would increase their prices for consumers, said the Deputy Minister of ecology Evdokia Maneva, as quoted in a publication in the Dnevnik newspaper.

The idea of the Ministry was to fix the tax which electronic waste treatment organizations collect from consumer electronics manufacturers and importers at 50% from the state tax on these products. The aim was to ensure that these organizations collect enough money to really recycle old consumer electronics.

In most cases the tax is 10% from the state tax on the products and is actually paid by the consumers. In some cases the electronic waste treatment companies offer a tax that is 30 times lower than the state tax, which rises concerns about the declared volume of their activity. Because of such a fraud the Ministry took away the licenses of two companies – Impact Corporation and Reco Pak. Hundreds of other such companies caught for not paying a part from the owed taxes were forced to pay additionally.

According to Maneva it was decided instead of market regulations to tighten the control over the electronic waste treatment organizations. She reminded that the organizations have to bring reports on their activity in 2010.

The state product tax which is paid yearly for every kilo of consumer electronics on the market has the role of a penal imposition. The aim is to encourage the companies to recycle their electronic waste with the help of the treatment organizations or on their own. In the moment in Bulgaria there are 18 organizations with licenses for electronic waste treatment.