May 05, 2008

Recycling and Incineration Recovery - Stricter Rules Ahead

EU recycling rules and targets came under intense scrutiny in early April as the Environment Committee of the European Parliament sought to make them more efficient and less fragmented than is currently the case with the 12 separate directives (WEEE, packaging waste, used vehicles, etc.) in place. This came during a second reading of the highly contentious Waste Framework Directive revision arising from the Thematic Strategy on Waste Prevention and Recycling (2005). MEPs ultimately held firm that the five-stage waste handling hierarchy (in the preferred order of prevention; re-use; recycling or composting; recovery of energy by incineration; and landfill disposal) should be strictly adhered to, with any departures justified on the basis of life-cycle 'thinking'. This is meant to find expression in a 2020 target for 50% of domestic waste and 70% of industrial waste to be recycled in tandem with improved efforts at national level to stabilise waste production by 2012 at the latest. The status of incinerators was especially debated with a narrow acceptance of a compromise prevailing whereby they could be classified as ‘recovery’ operations when, at least partly, burning waste for energy – thereby being eligible for financial support under state aid rules – but only provided they are subjected to EU energy efficiency criteria. For further details on the Thematic Strategy on the prevention and recycling of waste visit: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/strategy.htm

Posted by iroronan at May 5, 2008 08:28 PM