WRITTEN QUESTION P-1524/98

by Karin Riis-Jørgensen (ELDR) to the Commission

(11 May 1998)

Subject: The environmental impact of PVC and the proposal for a Council Directive on end- of-life vehicles

Will the Commission state how it has satisfied itself that the proposal for a Council Directive on end-of-life vehicles contained in COM(97) 0358(1) is based on the latest data and research?

In particular, how was it calculated that 1 kg of PVC waste incinerated generates 2-5 kg of flue gas treatment residue, as stated in the proposal? What percentage of the total amount of flue gas treatment residue generated as a result of waste incineration does PVC waste account for?

What research forms the basis for the assertion made in the proposal that PVC waste generates dioxin emissions? What volumes of dioxins are emitted respectively by the steel industry, the cement industry and as a result of the incineration of waste containing PVC?

The main reason for disposing of flue gas treatment residue as hazardous waste is that it contains heavy metals. What percentage of the heavy metals in flue gas treatment residue does PVC waste account for?

Will the Commission also furnish evidence to show that the overall level of pollution is certain to fall if PVC is replaced with any other material?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission

(17 July 1998)

When adopting the proposal for a Council Directive on end-of-life vehicles(2) on 9 July 1997 the Commission stipulated the following: "Whereas PVC is a material commonly present in end-of-life vehicles; whereas the Commission will consider the evidence regarding the environmental aspects relating to the presence of PVC in waste streams; whereas, on the basis of this evidence, the Commission will review its policy regarding the presence of PVC in waste streams and will come forward with proposals to address problems which may arise in this regard; where this is justified on environmental or health grounds".

In the explanatory memorandum to the abovementioned proposal for a Directive, several aspects of PVC incineration are mentioned. When PVC is incinerated acid fumes are generated and must be neutralised. Where flue gases are subject to dry treatment, generally with lime, that neutralisation leads to the formation of large quantities easily-soluble residues which are classified as dangerous, and in particular calcium chloride contaminated by heavy metals. Many sources have been used to demonstrate those problems - more especially the study carried out by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency in 1996. A study to the order of the Commission will examine this problem of the quantity and harmfulness of PVC-incineration residues in more detail.

The abovementioned explanatory memorandum to the proposal for a Directive states, with regard to dioxin formation during the incineration process, that the combustion of chlorine produces hydrochloric acid which is likely to result in dioxin formation as a result of the combustion conditions. This aspect is not challenged by the scientific community. A recent inventory drawn up by the Nordrhein Westfalen Environment Agency in Germany has shown that the incineration of all wastes together in incinerators accounts for more than 40 % of total dioxin emissions within the Community. The Commission is currently at work on defining a horizontal strategy to be adopted to deal with the impact of PVC on the environment and human health.

The Commission has begun work on PVC and is currently acquiring information on the problems linked to the life cycle of PVC products; In order to gain a knowledge of other aspects of PVC waste management a study will shortly be launched on, in particular, the behaviour of dumped PVC.

(1) OJ C 337, 7.11.1997, p. 3.

(2) OJ C 337, 7.11.1997.