5. 6. 89 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 139/1 
II 
(Preparatory Acts) 
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Directive on the disposal of polychlorinated biphenyls 
(PCB) and polychlorinated terphenyls (PCT) (*) 
(89/C 139/01) 
On 15 November 1988 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, 
under Article 100 A of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the 
abovementioned proposal. 
The Section for Protection of the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Affairs, which 
was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 
28 February 1989. The rapporteur was Mr Vassilaras. 
At its 264th plenary session (meeting of 30 March 1989) the Economic and Social Committee 
unanimously adopted the following Opinion. 
GENERAL COMMENTS 
1. The Committee generally supports the Com­
mission proposal. However, so that it may be as effec­
tive as possible, the Directive should be modified and 
implemented in line with the Committee's general and 
specific comments thereon. 
2. The ESC supports the Commission proposal, 
which perceives the need for a supplementary Directive 
to regulate the disposal of PCB and PCT, in parallel 
with the measures recently adopted by the Council, 
which aim to prohibit trade in PCB and PCT. This 
need results from the accumulation of used PCB and 
PCT and substances contaminated with them, follow­
ing the replacement of PCB and PCT with other sub­
stances and the evacuation of PCB and PCT from 
installations. 
3. The Committee has done much previous work on 
waste management and draws attention in particular 
to its recent Opinion on the proposals for a Directive 
amending Directive 75/442/EEC on waste and for a 
Directive on hazardous waste (2) which should be read in conjunction with the present Opinion. In this regard, 
the Commission should look again at the possibility of 
using Articles 130 R or 130 S as a legal basis. 
4. The Committee is seriously concerned with the 
lack of facilities within the EEC for disposing of PCB 
on land. Thus while the total of PCB in existence in 
the EEC exceeds 180 000 tonnes, total disposal capacity 
is only 16 000 tonnes per annum. At this rate it will 
take over 11 years to dispose of existing PCB. 
5. Furthermore, the Committee notes that while 6 
Member States have PCB incineration installations on 
land, the other 6 have none, which means that a certain 
amount of transfrontier shipment—a procedure which 
has caused a lot of problems in the past—is inevitable; 
in addition to this, some shipment within Member 
States will also be inevitable. 
6. It is clear, therefore, that PCB destruction plant 
capacity needs to be increased; the ESC recommends 
that the Commission encourage and strengthen invest­
ment to this end, since it takes the view that such 
investment creates new jobs and contributes to protec­
tion of the environment. 
(1) OINoC319 12. 12. 1988, p. 57. 6.1. As the estimated cost of incinerating 1 ton of 
(2) Doc. ESC: 14December 1988 (OJ No C 56, 6. 3. 1989, p. 2). chemical waste is 30 000 to 35 000 Belgian francs, the 
No C 139/2 Official Journal of the European Communities 5. 6. 89 
possibility of subsidizing such destruction at Com­
munity and/or national level should be examined. 
6.2. However, to minimize the necessity to transport 
the PCB, it is desirable that such destruction plants be 
built as near as possible to the source of the PCB, and 
the desirability of having at least one plant in all except 
the smallest Member States must be examined (see also 
paragraph 3.1 of specific comments). 
6.3. The Committee has noted the list of inter­
national conventions which govern the carriage of 
dangerous goods (!). 
The Commission, in consultation with the appropriate 
authorities, should oversee the arrangements for the 
transport of PCB from Community countries or regions 
which are not in direct proximity to disposal plant (e.g. 
where non-Community countries lie in between). 
7. The ESC points out that, while the Member States 
are adapting their legislation to the objectives of the 
strategic programme for waste management and pro­
hibition of toxic substances, the provision of infor­
mation for holders of PCB/PCT and for technical and 
scientific staff remains inadequate. 
7.1. It also feels that research on replacement of 
toxic substances with substances which do not entail a 
risk to human beings or the environment, and research 
on biological disposal methods, are both insufficient at 
present. 
8. Assuming the Commission's proposal is adopted, 
the Committee urges that the Commission be given 
adequate means to monitor the method of disposal of 
dangerous substances. 
9. The Committee considers that the Directive 
should be stronger and include: 
— a commitment to eliminate PCB completely, rather 
than just a prohibition on uncontrolled disposal, 
— a specific prohibition on imports of products con­
taining PCB. 
10. Only if the foregoing actions are taken can the 
proposed Directive be satisfactorily implemented. SPECIFIC COMMENTS 
1.1. Article 2 (a) 
In the definition of 50 ppm as the 'acceptable' PCB 
content below which a liquid would not be treated as 
PCB, it appears that a loophole may exist whereby a 
level of 50 ppm for PCB and a similar level of 50 ppm 
for PCT may be read as a cumulative total of 100 ppm, 
thus artificially raising the 'acceptable' content. 
1.2. Article 2(c) 
It should be made clear that the definition of 'equipment 
containing PCB' also covers domestic appliances. In 
any case such appliances should be adequately and 
clearly labelled in order to make the PCB content and 
the consequential danger evident to distributors and 
consumers. 
1.3. Article 2(f) 
In the definition of 'replacement' it should be made clear 
that the 'suitable fluids not containing PCB' should also 
be safe and non-toxic. 
2. Article 3 
The Committee asks why the prohibition of inciner­
ation of PCB on ships would not come into force earlier 
than 1995. 
3. Article 6 
3.1. Although according to Annex 7, Article 6 in 
Directive 76/403/EEC is replaced by Article 6 in the 
new proposal, the Committee considers that the new 
text does not adequately reproduce the old, which reads 
as follows: 
'For the purpose of applying Articles 2, 3, 4 and 5, 
the competent authorities of the Member States 
shall set up or designate the installations, establish­
ments or undertakings which are authorized for the 
purposes of disposing of PCB on their own account 
and/or on behalf of third parties.' 
The text of the original Directive should be retained 
(paragraph 5 of 'General comments' refers). 
3.1.1. With reference to Annex 1, referred to in 
Article 6 (1) of the new proposal, it is stated in para­
graph 3 (c) of the said Annex that the incinerator must 
'totally' destroy the molecules of toxic substances. 
(') Annex2ofDirective84/631/EEC(OJNoL326,13. 12. 1984). The Commission might consider qualifying the word 
'totally' by a phrase such as 'as far as is physically 
5. 6. 89 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 139/3 
possible', or by inserting a definition of 'totally' which 
would explain that 'totally' is minimally less than 
100%. 
3.2. Article 6 (4) 
Member States should notify the Commission of the 
names and other relevant information not only of the 
undertakings authorized to dispose of PCB but also of 
the firms actually using PCB in their manufacturing 
operations. This information should be published or 
otherwise made available to all authorities concerned 
with implementing the proposed Directive. 
4.1. Article 7 (a) 
This sentence is unclear and a new text is suggested as 
follows: 'PCB are replaced by other fluids if, but only 
if, other alternative remedies would not entail risks.' 
4.2. Article 7(f) 
A new Article 7 (f) should be added to specify that the 
replacement of PCB in equipment be carried out in 
specific safe areas set aside for that purpose. 
5. Article 9 (1) + (2) and Article 10 (second indent) 
It is suggested that the unit 'dm3' (cubic decimeter) is 
rarely used nowadays and should be replaced by a more 
readily comprehensible unit. 
Done at Brussels, 30 March 1989. In Article 10 the figure '8 dm3' appears as '7 dm3' in 
some language versions. 
5.1. Article 9(1) 
As pointed out in paragraph 1.2, it is not clear whether 
domestic appliances are covered by the proposal, and 
accordingly whether the labelling provisions in Annex 
5 apply, or even whether they are suitable for consumer 
products. This matter should be re-examined. 
5.2. Article 9 (2) 
The procedure set for compiling inventories of equip­
ment containing PCB is clear, but there is no indication 
on what basis a decision to take a piece of equipment 
out of circulation is made. 
6. Article 10 
The ESC proposes that a method also be found for 
responsible collection and destruction in all Member 
States of condensers of various sizes, with a PCB/PCT 
content varying between a few grammes and several 
hundred kilos; there are estimated to be several hundred 
millions of such units in the Community. 
The system proposed by the Commission for the collec­
tion of batteries should be examined in this context. 
7. Annex 6 (4) 
On the question of publishing and distributing infor­
mation, it is important to ensure that such information 
is accurate and complete, and that there is no conceal­
ment of essential data. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Alberto MASPRONE