WRITTEN QUESTION E-2479/02

by Chris Davies (ELDR) to the Commission

(6 September 2002)

Subject: Landfill Directive 1999/31/EC: Hazardous waste

Can the Commission confirm that, pursuant to Landfill Directive 1999/31/EC(1), old television sets became categorised as hazardous waste in January 2002?

For how long have Member States been aware that this was likely to happen?

From what date must Member States ensure that all hazardous waste is collected by specially licensed operators and disposed of in tips reserved exclusively for hazardous waste?

Has the UK Government, or any other EU government, expressed any concerns about the difficulty of complying with these requirements in accordance with the legislative timetable?

(1) OJ L 182, 16.7.1999, p. 1.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(3 October 2002)

The classification of waste as hazardous or non-hazardous waste is established under Council Directive 91/689/EC of 12 December 1991 on hazardous waste(1) and not by Council Directive 1999/31/EC of 26 April 1999 on the landfill of waste. A waste is considered to be hazardous if it displays any of the 14 hazardous properties listed in Annex III of Directive 91/689/EEC.

In the case of a discarded television set, it is considered to be a waste from electrical or electronic equipment. This equipment is made of different components, some of which can contain dangerous substances, such as cadmium and lead oxide in monitor cathode ray tubes. A discarded television set comprising of hazardous components is hazardous waste for the purposes of Directive 91/689/EC and would be classified under code entry 16 02 13* of Commission Decision 2000/532/EC(2), as amended(3), which establishes a Community list of waste categories. In contrast, a television set stripped of all hazardous components would not be hazardous waste(4). By way of a general remark, the Community Strategy on Waste Management has endeavoured to promote recycling and recovery of waste from electrical and electronic equipment(5). This has crystallized into a specific proposal for a Directive from the Commission on waste from electrical and electronic equipment(6), currently at conciliation committee phase. It aims to require Member States to ensure the collection and segregation of hazardous components from such equipment, in order to ensure their safe disposal as well as to promote the recycling of the remaining fractions. In that context, a discarded television set, which contains valuable materials such as recoverable metals, ought not to go as such directly to a landfill, and instead should be subject to appropriate prior dismantling and recycling operations.

The classification of waste from electrical and electronic equipment containing hazardous components as hazardous waste was adopted in May 2000 by Commission Decision 2000/532/EC, with no objection from Member States on that specific waste entry, and entered into force 1 January 2002. The previous discussions with Member States that lead to that decision spanned over three years prior to May 2000.

The obligation to hand over hazardous waste to an undertaking which is obliged to have a permit to manage hazardous waste is established in Council Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975 on waste, as amended(7), in conjunction with Directive 91/689/EEC. These provisions have been in force since 1977 and 1993 respectively.

One of the most important principles of Directive 1999/31/EC is that hazardous waste may not be landfilled together with non-hazardous waste, in order to ensure safe and environmentally sound landfilling (ban of co-disposal). This applies since 16 July 2001. Indeed, the Parliament in 1996 rejected the Council common position, in part for having omitted a strict co-disposal ban.

The United Kingdom was the only Member State that did not support the prohibition of co-disposal. In order to facilitate the implementation of this requirement, a transition period until 16 July 2004 is accorded to Member States under the Landfill Directive in respect of those landfills already existing before 16 July 2001.

(1) OJ L 377, 31.12.1991.

(2) Commission Decision 2000/532/EC of 3 May 2000 replacing Decision 94/3/EC establishing a list of wastes pursuant to Article 1(a) of Council Directive 75/442/EEC on waste and Council Decision 94/904/EC establishing a list of hazardous waste pursuant to Article 1(4) of Council Directive 91/689/EEC on hazardous waste, OJ L 226, 6.9.2000.

(3) As amended by Commission Decisions 2001/118/EC of 16 January 2001 and 2000/119/EC of 22 January 2001 (OJ L 47, 16.2.2001) and Council Decision 2001/573/EC of 23 July 2001 (OJ L 203, 28.7.2001).

(4) See entry 16 2 14 in Commission Decision 2000/532/EC.

(5) See eg. section 3.3 of COM(96) 399 final, Commission Communication on the review of the Community strategy for waste management.

(6) OJ C 365 E, 19.12.2000.

(7) OJ L 194, 25.7.1975, as amended by Council Directive 91/156/EEC of 18 March 1991 (OJ L 78, 26.3.1991) and Commission Decision 96/350/EC of 24 May 1996 (OJ L 135, 6.6.1996).