Possible conflicts between several pieces of EU waste regulation could hamper the waste industry’s progress and environmental cause, writes Suzanne Arup Veltzè
The European Commission’s ‘Waste Package’ consists of the Resource Strategy, the Recycling Strategy and the proposal for a revision of the Waste Framework Directive. Its overall objective is to increase the level of recycling/recovery through ensuring a free market for waste. In order to remove market barriers, the EC has proposed the introduction of harmonized minimum standards for plants and product quality, the recovery criteria, and the end-of-waste criteria.
However, some countries, such as Belgium, Denmark and Germany, have pointed out a possible conflict between the proposed revision of the Waste Framework Directive and the Waste Shipment Regulation regarding the role of the market.
The Waste Shipment Regulation includes a range of possible objections for the relevant authorities. Namely, these are in Article 11 regarding ‘Objections to shipments of waste destined for disposal’ and in Article 12 regarding ‘Objections to shipments of waste destined for recovery’. At the same time, the proposed revision for the Waste Framework Directive invalidates these objections through defining common minimum standards for facilities and end-products, reclassifying certain types of waste as products, limiting objections with regard to shipment for recovery, and setting export and import (as opposed to disposal) criteria.
This could lead to two scenarios in future. First, it could increase waste transport to countries where waste-toenergy plants are classified as ‘recovery operations’. Second, it could increase the transport of waste with a high calorific value to countries with a high capacity of co-incineration (which is always considered a ‘recovery’ operation), leaving the problems of low-quality waste and bottom ash to countries without co-incineration. In addition, the Waste Shipment Regulation includes objections to the import/export of mixed municipal waste collected from private households (which always should be classified as ‘disposal’), which means that mixed municipal waste has to be treated domestically. This could lead to an increased sorting of municipal waste going to co-incineration and an increased interest in collecting commercial waste separately.
The overall potential scenario is therefore:
- increased waste transport
- increased co-incineration
- increased economic uncertainty for the waste industry
- increased environmental impact as a result of co-incineration, which does not have the same emission limit values as conventional waste-to-energy plants in accordance with the Waste Incineration Directive.
The ramifications of such trends require further attention. ISWA will be addressing these concerns in its conference this October in Denmark, and in other discussions with Working Group members and third parties. It is important to consider the wide range of mid- to long-term impacts of the EC’s Waste Package, while pushing forward on more immediate action.
Suzanne Arup Veltzé is Managing Director of ISWA.
