THEMATIC STRATEGY ON THE PREVENTION AND
RECYCLING OF WASTE (5050/06)
Letter from Ben Bradshaw MP, Minister
for Local Environment, Marine and Animal Welfare, Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to the Chairman
On 26 April 2006 I appeared before Sub-Committee
D to answer questions about the Thematic Strategy on the prevention
and recycling of waste (the Waste Thematic Strategy), and the
associated legislation, published by the European Commission in
December 2005. The associated legislation comprises a revision
of the Waste Framework Directive (WFD), the repeal of the Waste
Oils Directive and the repeal and integration into the revised
WFD of the Hazardous Waste Directive. I am now writing to update
you on subsequent developments.
First, the Environment Council adopted Conclusions
on the Waste Thematic Strategy when it met on 27 June 2006. I
enclose a copy of the Council's Conclusions which were adopted
without prejudice to the negotiations on the associated legislation.
Second, discussion on the draft legislation
began under the Finnish Presidency in July 2006. Progress was
slow and the stated objective of reaching Political Agreement
by December 2006 was not achieved. The Finnish Presidency tabled
the enclosed Progress Report under "Other Business"
at the Environment Council's meeting on 18 December 2006.
Third, the European Parliament carried out its
First Reading of the Commission's legislative proposals at a plenary
session on 12 and 13 February 2007. The Parliament debated and
voted on 189 amendments to the Commission's proposals. Of these,
97 were put forward by the Parliament's Environment Committee
and others were tabled by individual MEPs. 120 amendments were
adopted by the Parliament.
The amendments are adopted by the European Parliament
are wide-ranging but the key areas are:
— Waste prevention: an adopted
amendment would require Member States to take all necessary measures
to stabilise their overall waste production by 2012, as compared
to their overall annual waste production in 2008.
— Recycling targets: an adopted
amendment specifies that by 2020 Members States would have to
achieve at least an overall re-use and recycling level of 50%
for municipal solid waste and 70% for construction, demolition,
industrial and manufacturing waste.
— Separate collection: an adopted
amendment would require that by 2015 Members States shall set
up separate waste collection schemes for at least the following;
paper, metal, plastic, glass, textiles, other biodegradeable wastes,
oil and hazardous wastes.
— Energy recovery: an adopted
amendment would strike out the Commission's proposal to set energy-efficiency
criteria which, if met, would enable municipal waste incineration
plant to be reclassified from disposal operations to recovery
operations.
— Minimum standards: an adopted
amendment would require minimum standards for waste treatment
operations to be set by Directives and by co-decision, rather
than by "comitology" as the Commission had proposed.
— End-of-waste criteria: an
adopted amendment would required the criteria for when wastes
have been fully recovered and cease to be waste to be set in Directives,
rather than by comitology as the Commission had proposed. The
Parliament's amendment also specifies that such Directives should
be brought forward for compost, aggregates, paper, glass, metal,
end-of-life tyres and second-hand clothing.
— Biowaste: an adopted amendment
would require the Commission to bring forward by June 2008 a Directive
to promote the recycling of biowaste.
The European Parliament has not yet formally
transmitted to the Environment Council the outcome of its First
Reading of the Commission's legislative proposals. However, some
of the amendments adopted by the Parliament may not be acceptable
to a majority of Member States in the Council of Ministers. For
example, the proposed targets on waste prevention and recycling
and the two lists of waste streams, one to be the subject of separate
collection and the other to be subject of end-of-waste Directives.
On the other hand, the adopted amendment on minimum standards
for waste treatment operations is in line with the position of
the UK Government, since we are concerned that the introduction
of such standards should continue to be properly justified and
adopted by means of Directives rather than by "comitology"
and without the provision of an Impact Assessment by the European
Commission.
The next steps are uncertain, as the Commission
has reserved its position on the adopted amendments which were
not part of the 97 proposed by the Parliament's Environment Committee
and, as I've indicated, the Parliament has also not yet formally
transmitted the outcome of its First Reading to the Environment
Council. However, we anticipate that the Council will not be able
to accept all of the Parliament's amendments. In the meantime,
the Government continues to play a full and active role in the
negotiations in the Council Working Groups and the publicly announced
aim of the German Presidency is to secure Political Agreement
by the end of June 2007. I will of course keep you informed of
developments.
14 March 2007
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