Recyclers Angered By EU Waste Shipment Changes

BRUSSELS, Belgium, November 5, 2003 (ENS) - New European Union transfrontier waste shipment rules approved by the European Parliament's Environment Committee on Tuesday could damage Europe's secondary materials recycling industry, according to the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), an industry lobby group.

Committee proposals relate to an ongoing revision of the EU's 1993 waste shipments regulation. Their impact would be a massive new administrative burden on nonhazardous waste handlers, BIR claims.

The group insists that the committee's vision contradicts the entire rationale of the revision, which it says should streamline notification and permitting procedures.

The committee was voting on proposals tabled by the European Commission in July which aim to bring EU rules into line with new waste export rules agreed by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2001, which the EU is legally bound to implement.

Construction waste ready for pickup (Photo by Ian Britton courtesy FreeFoto)

This procedure currently applies to the middle rung of the current three-tier classification of waste shipments: semi-hazardous materials intended for recovery.

Under the Commission plan the semi-hazardous waste classification would be removed from the current three tier system, leaving only two categories.

The first would be non-hazardous waste for recovery, which now requires only the provision of certain information before shipment.

The second includes all other waste types, which would require prior notification of shipment and the explicit written consent of authorities before the waste can be moved.

In one major change to the Commission's proposals, the Environment Committee said firms sending non-hazardous waste for recovery in another EU member state - such as paper or steel for recycling - must notify authorities in writing in advance.

This would create a completely new requirement for some 90 percent of all waste movements in the EU, said BIR Director Ross Bartley, with authorities likely to be "snowed under" with paperwork.

It would also "open the possibility" for them to charge for shipments where currently they do not, Bartley warned.

Bartley also slammed the committee's demand that details of all shipment notifications be posted on the Internet. This would damage competitiveness by allowing big waste handlers to undercut smaller firms more easily, leading to market consolidation and eventually forcing up prices, he cautioned, saying, "Just because it's labeled waste doesn't mean everyone needs to see the details."

Other committee proposals were motivated by "protectionism," he said.

Authorities would have much greater scope to block shipments destined for recovery abroad, by invoking the proximity principle or simply by referring to their own national environmental laws.

Chris Cutchey of UK based Catalyst Recycling Ltd. told the International Environment Council meeting in Vienna last week that under the latest waste shipment proposals, "There is no room in the EU for the metal [waste] trader."

Scrap cars await recycling in the UK. (Photo courtesy FreeFoto)

Elsewhere, Members of the European Parliament say interim waste shipments should be banned. These are shipments of waste not scheduled or immediate disposal or recovery but to be mixed with other wastes and repackaged for shipment elsewhere.

A proposal to put even tighter conditions on waste shipments that would set minimum recovery rates and calorific content before waste movements would be permitted, was defeated by a slim majority in committee.

This proposal was prompted by a landmark European Court of Justice ruling in February on when waste incineration is recovery and when it must be considered disposal.

The court said waste incineration could be considered recovery if the waste is used "principally as a fuel or other means to generate energy."

In addition, more energy must produced than consumed, and this surplus energy must be put to an effective use as heat or electricity to be considered recovery. Also, the court ruled that the majority of the waste must be consumed during the incineration operation and the majority of energy produced must be recuperated and used.

The recommendation for minimum recovery rates and calorific content could be reinstated when the Parliament's plenary body votes on the law. Sources say the Council of Ministers has yet to debate the draft revision.

{Published in cooperation with ENDS Environment Daily, Europe's choice for environmental news. Environmental Data Services Ltd, London. Email: envdaily@ends.co.uk}