WRITTEN QUESTION P-1270/96 by Heidi Hautala (V) to the Commission (15 May 1996)

Subject: Waste prevention and the recycling objectives of the packaging directive

The principal aim of the packaging directive is the prevention of waste, but the concrete objectives are left to the discretion of the Member States. According to the EU's waste strategy recycling ought to be the primary objective from the point of view of energy exploitation. However, maximum limits have been placed on the recycling objectives which in the most advanced countries have almost or already been exceeded for almost all packaging waste except plastic. There is also the problem that the reuse of packaging is not counted as prevention of packaging waste.

Under the directive the Member States may set higher recycling objectives for environmental protection reasons. Some Member States refrain from doing so, arguing that the directive does not permit the creation of obstacles to trade. These countries content themselves with such a low level of recycling that in practice recycling is inevitably forced into decline. It may be that an attempt is being made to conclude alternative agreements with the packaging industry when it appears that the matter cannot be regulated by national legislation.

Does the Commission propose to abolish the maximum limits set for recycling and to raise the minimum requirements to set concrete objectives for the prevention of packaging waste, and to count the reuse of packaging as waste prevention?

Does the Commission have any information about packaging waste recycling and prevention objectives adopted and economic or other incentives (including prohibitions) currently in use in Member States?

What does the Commission regard as 'obstacles to trade' within the meaning of the directive?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (24 June 1996)

Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste ((OJ L 365, 31.12.1994. )) aims to provide a high level of environmental protection and to ensure the functioning of the internal market. The Directive establishes targets for the recovery and recycling of packaging waste within certain ranges so as to take account of the different situations in Member States and to avoid creating barriers to trade and distortions of competition. It should be emphasized that Member States which have, or will set, programmes going beyond those targets, should be allowed to pursue those targets in the interest of a high level of environmental protection subject to a number of conditions with compliance to be confirmed by the Commission after appropriate verification. These conditions are considered as reasonable in the light of the double objective of the Directive.

This should not lead to a decline of present recycling efforts in some Member States but, if needed, to a rationalisation and greater consideration of the problems faced by other Member States in this area.

Re-use is not included in recycling targets as, logically, it consists of different processes and it may be shown that introduction of re-use in these targets would lead, under the same conditions, to an increase of packaging waste going to landfill. Re-use is a fundamental principle of the Directive, which establises (Article 5) the framework for encouraging re-use systems.

The Directive establishes prevention as a first priority (Article 4) but does not set prevention targets as this was not considered to be appropriate at this stage. Accordingly, re-use cannot be taken into account regarding the achievement of prevention targets and the two concepts are presented as separate. This is the logical consequence in the light of the definitions in (Article 3). This should nevertheless, by no means be considered as detrimental to re-use.

The Commission will present, as appropriate, a proposal on the basis of the practical experience gained in Member States and the findings of scientific research and evaluation technique such as eco-balances, in order to allow for an adoption of the targets, at the latest on 31 December 1996, for the second five year phase. It is too early to anticipate the contents of this proposal but, as indicated in the Directive, the aim is to increase present targets substantially.

Since the deadline for implementation in national law expires on 30 June 1996, an accurate and stable valuation can only be given once Member States have completed this process. At present, none of the Member States has done so.

Finally, the interpretation to be given to 'obstacles to trade' is the general interpretation applying directly to this concept in the EC Treaty. Logically, in practice, it has to be considered on a case-by-case basis in the light of existing case law in this area.