MoreThanWaste.com - MEP's back position that incineration should be treated as recovery (10/04/2008)

"In Tuesday's vote they (MEP's) backed the Commission and Council position that it (incineration) should be categorised as recovery, provided it meets a certain energy efficiency standard"

Brussels, Belgium: EU Member States should stabilize waste production by 2012 relative to 2009 levels, according to the European Environment Committee last Tuesday. This came out of a second reading of a report on the proposed revision of the EU framework directive on waste.

The European Commission's proposal to overhaul the Framework Directive started its journey in September 2005, with emphasis on rules for recycling and a requirement for Member States to draw up binding national programmes for cutting waste production.

In fact the Environment Committee voted to reinstate most of Parliament's first reading amendments, this week, that were not taken up by the European Council. In particular the Environment Committee repeated Parliament's call for re-use and recycling targets.

The need for revisions to the Directive is illustrated by the statistic that over 1.8 billion tonnes of waste are generated annually in Europe with quantities growing faster than GDP (gross domestic product) with less than a third of it is recycled.

The Committee points out that there is a wide variation in Member States in relation to the amount landfilled with some States landfilling 90% of their municipal waste, while others landfill only 10%.

In the EU municipal waste generation averages 530kg per person per annum. However waste generation is 300 to 350 kg per annum in the EU-10 Member States, though around 570 kg in the EU-15.

In terms of disposal methods in 2005, 49% of EU municipal waste was disposed of through landfill, 18% was incinerated and 27% recycled or composted according to the Environment Committee.

Binding targets

The second reading report was produced by the UK's MEP Caroline Jackson and did not have a single vote against it (42 in favour and 14 abstentions). If the amendments are ultimately accepted, Member States would be required to raise waste prevention programmes not later than five years after the revised directive's entry into force.

They would be required to determine appropriate specific targets to achieve the 2012 objective of stabilisation, with further significant reductions in waste generation required by 2020.

Under the proposals, by 2020, re-use and recycling rates should be increased to a minimum of 50% by weight for household waste and a minimum of 70% by weight for construction and demolition waste and manufacturing and industrial waste.

However there would be an opt out for Member States with less than 5% recycling in either waste category, or having no official figures as they would be given an additional 5 years to become compliant.

The proposal also covers the types of materials to be separately collected, as by 2015 Member States would have to set up schemes for, as a minimum, paper, metal, plastic, glass, textiles, other biodegradable wastes, oils and hazardous wastes.

Committee views on incineration

For MEPs, “a crucial aim is to reduce the amount of landfill and incineration, both of which cause pollution”.

MEP'S on the Environment Committee were split on whether incineration should be regarded as a "disposal" or a "recovery" operation. On Tuesday they backed the Commission and Council position that it should be categorised as recovery, provided it meets a certain energy efficiency standard which would be represented by a formula in an annex to the Directive.

It was, however, a close call when an amendment to delete the energy efficiency formula was rejected by 29 votes to 24, though even more closely, MEPs voted for the formula (28 votes to 27) to be reviewed by the co-legislators within two years of the directive's entry into force.

The Committee earlier, in the first reading, had rejected incineration as a recovery process and had deleted the energy efficiency formula.

Five-stage hierarchy

The proposed five stage waste hierarchy provides an order of preference for waste operations with the ranking in decreasing order of importance of “prevention, re-use, recycling, other recovery operations and, as a last resort, safe and environmentally sound disposal”.

The Committee want the hierarchy used "as a general rule", rather than as a "guiding principle" as proposed by Council. Departing from the hierarchy should be possible where it is justified by "life cycle" analysis.

The next stage

Caroline Jackson,Parliament's rapporteur, hopes to negotiate a "second reading agreement" with Council so that the Parliament can give its final agreement to the directive in the June plenary. The alternative is that negotiations will continue into the Autumn under the “conciliation procedure”.


	MEP's back position that incineration should be treated as recovery (10/04/2008) "In Tuesday's vote they (MEP's) backed the Commission and Council position that it (incineration) should be categorised as recovery, provided it meets a certain energy efficiency standard" Brussels, Belgium: EU Member States should stabilize waste production by 2012 relative to 2009 levels, according to the European Environment Committee last Tuesday. This came out of a second reading of a report on the proposed revision of the EU framework directive on waste. The European Commission's proposal to overhaul the Framework Directive started its journey in September 2005, with emphasis on rules for recycling and a requirement for Member States to draw up binding national programmes for cutting waste production. In fact the Environment Committee voted to reinstate most of Parliament's first reading amendments, this week, that were not taken up by the European Council. In particular the Environment Committee repeated Parliament's call for re-use and recycling targets. The need for revisions to the Directive is illustrated by the statistic that over 1.8 billion tonnes of waste are generated annually in Europe with quantities growing faster than GDP (gross domestic product) with less than a third of it is recycled. The Committee points out that there is a wide variation in Member States in relation to the amount landfilled with some States landfilling 90% of their municipal waste, while others landfill only 10%. In the EU municipal waste generation averages 530kg per person per annum. However waste generation is 300 to 350 kg per annum in the EU-10 Member States, though around 570 kg in the EU-15. In terms of disposal methods in 2005, 49% of EU municipal waste was disposed of through landfill, 18% was incinerated and 27% recycled or composted according to the Environment Committee. Binding targets The second reading report was produced by the UK's MEP Caroline Jackson and did not have a single vote against it (42 in favour and 14 abstentions). If the amendments are ultimately accepted, Member States would be required to raise waste prevention programmes not later than five years after the revised directive's entry into force. They would be required to determine appropriate specific targets to achieve the 2012 objective of stabilisation, with further significant reductions in waste generation required by 2020. Under the proposals, by 2020, re-use and recycling rates should be increased to a minimum of 50% by weight for household waste and a minimum of 70% by weight for construction and demolition waste and manufacturing and industrial waste. However there would be an opt out for Member States with less than 5% recycling in either waste category, or having no official figures as they would be given an additional 5 years to become compliant. The proposal also covers the types of materials to be separately collected, as by 2015 Member States would have to set up schemes for, as a minimum, paper, metal, plastic, glass, textiles, other biodegradable wastes, oils and hazardous wastes. Committee views on incineration For MEPs, “a crucial aim is to reduce the amount of landfill and incineration, both of which cause pollution”. MEP'S on the Environment Committee were split on whether incineration should be regarded as a "disposal" or a "recovery" operation. On Tuesday they backed the Commission and Council position that it should be categorised as recovery, provided it meets a certain energy efficiency standard which would be represented by a formula in an annex to the Directive. It was, however, a close call when an amendment to delete the energy efficiency formula was rejected by 29 votes to 24, though even more closely, MEPs voted for the formula (28 votes to 27) to be reviewed by the co-legislators within two years of the directive's entry into force. The Committee earlier, in the first reading, had rejected incineration as a recovery process and had deleted the energy efficiency formula. Five-stage hierarchy The proposed five stage waste hierarchy provides an order of preference for waste operations with the ranking in decreasing order of importance of “prevention, re-use, recycling, other recovery operations and, as a last resort, safe and environmentally sound disposal”. The Committee want the hierarchy used "as a general rule", rather than as a "guiding principle" as proposed by Council. Departing from the hierarchy should be possible where it is justified by "life cycle" analysis. The next stage Caroline Jackson,Parliament's rapporteur, hopes to negotiate a "second reading agreement" with Council so that the Parliament can give its final agreement to the directive in the June plenary. The alternative is that negotiations will continue into the Autumn under the “conciliation procedure”.