OPINION OF THE COMMISSION pursuant to Article 251 (2) (c) of the EC Treaty, on the European Parliament's amendments to the Council's common position regarding the proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the incineration of waste AMENDING THE PROPOSAL OF THE COMMISSION pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC Treaty

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

Article 251, paragraph 2, letter c) of the Treaty establishing the European Community establishes that the Commission gives an opinion on the amendments proposed by the European Parliament in the second reading.

The Commission hereafter gives its opinion on the sixteen amendments proposed by the European Parliament.

1. Background

Transmission of the Proposal to the Council and the European Parliament // 29 October 1998

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee // 25 February 1999

Opinion of Committee of the Regions // 10 March 1999

Opinion of the European Parliament - first reading // 14 April 1999

Amended Proposal of the Commission (COM (1999) 330 final) // 12 July 1999

Adoption of the Common Position // 25 November 1999

Opinion of the Commission on the Common Position (SEC (1999) 1971 final) // 30 November 1999

In this last document (SEC (1999) 1971 final), the Commission considered the Common Position in line with the amended Proposal of the Commission (COM (1999) 330 final) and, as a consequence, the Commission supports the Common Position.

2. Objective of the Commission Proposal

The Amended Proposal on the incineration of waste (COM (99)330) seeks to replace the three existing Directives 89/369, 89/429 and 94/67 on the incineration of municipal waste and hazardous waste and to extend the scope of Community legislation on incineration.

The proposed Directive will contribute to the protection of human health and the environment as required by Article 174 and Article 152 of the Treaty.

It seeks to integrate the technical progress that has been made in the control of incineration processes and to extend the scope of existing Community measures to combat the pollution of air, water and land caused by the incineration and co-incineration of waste. The aim is to prevent harmful effects on the environment and human health. The key objectives therefore are to:

- reduce substantially emissions of several key pollutants to air and control releases to water and land;

- provide a major contribution to the achievement of the Fifth Environment Action Programme. The target is to reduce emissions of dioxins and furans from known sources by 90% between 1985 and 2005, with the specific objective of introducing standards for dioxin and furan emissions for waste incineration;

- contribute to a reduction in releases of heavy metals. This is in accordance with the Fifth Environment Action Programme's objective of eliminating the exceeding of critical loads and levels;

- provide a coherent methodology for the regulation and operation of non-hazardous waste incineration and co-incineration.

3. Commission opinion on the Parliament's amendments

16 amendments have been adopted by the Parliament. The Commission can accept six amendments in full (6, 8, 9, 10, 17 and 22), two in part (11 and 25) and one in principle (4). The remaining amendments (1, 2, 3, 5, 13, 15, and 20) cannot be accepted.

3.1. Amendments accepted by the Commission

Amendment 4 changes the scope of the future Directive. The EP proposes excluding certain fibrous vegetable waste from the paper and pulp industry from its scope. This is in line with the intention of the Commission to exclude certain clean biomass to support the use of alternative sources of energy. The rewording of the exclusions for waste from the food processing industry and for wood waste is acceptable. The replacing of number (v) by "radioactive waste" is also acceptable in principle. It serves the objective of precise and understandable Community legislation. The common position text could, however, give rise to confusion, in particular in relation to incineration of animal waste.

Amendment 6 adds some examples for heat recovery to the text. Amendment 8 introduces a new paragraph, which makes it clear that competent authorities must take action to enforce compliance with the permit if necessary. Amendment 9 aims at strengthening the requirements for delivery and reception of waste. In fact the removal of some words does not change the standards in this respect. The last sentence in that paragraph indicates that in any case the requirements of paragraph 3 and 4 must be complied with. Amendment 10 allows for the subtraction of "elemental carbon" for the calculation of "total organic carbon". This is justified from a scientific point of view. All amendments are acceptable to the Commission.

The second element of amendment 11 makes it clear that for some hazardous waste the retention time at 1,100°C is 2 seconds. This clarification is acceptable to the Commission.

Amendment 17 corrects a mistake in the common position text and is therefore acceptable to the Commission.

Amendment 22 adds annexes II, IV and V to the list of annexes, which can be changed by the committee procedure. This is in line with the Commission amended proposal and therefore acceptable to the Commission.

The first part of amendment 25 adds a new emission limit value for NOx of 500 mg for new cement kilns co-incinerating waste. This figure is in line with the cost-benefit evaluation done for the Commission and is therefore acceptable to the Commission.

3.2. Amendments not accepted by the Commission

Amendments 1 and 2, which seek to include waste management elements, cannot be accepted for reasons of principle. The objective of the Commission Proposal is to provide emission limit values and operational conditions for all waste that is incinerated or co-incinerated and not to interfere with waste management legislation.

Amendment 3 cannot be accepted for reasons of principle. It is obvious that the draft Directive will apply without prejudice to other legislation.

Amendments 5 and 15, which seek to introduce links with air and water quality standards, cannot be accepted. There is already other legislation to that effect in place or in preparation, such as the Air Quality Directives, the IPPC Directive and the proposed Water Framework Directive. The proposed amendments would only serve to duplicate or compromise the clarity of this legislation.

The first part of amendment 11, which removes the word "hazardous" seeks to provide for higher combustion temperatures for non-hazardous waste. This higher temperature of 1,100°C is scientifically not justified. The proposed figure of 850°C, together with other relevant combustion conditions such as retention time, is sufficient to destroy all organic pollutants - in particular dioxin precursors.

Amendment 13 is not acceptable to the Commission. It introduces an interpretation of hazardous waste which does not exist in waste legislation.

Amendment 20 is not acceptable to the Commission. The current wording of the draft Directive in Article 12, which deals with access to information and public participation, is sufficient to provide the necessary information to all actors.

The second part of amendment 25 which reduces the extra transition period provided for in annex II for certain cement kilns by one year is not acceptable to the Commission. This reduction would remove the delicate balance achieved in the common position.