WRITTEN QUESTION P-2432/96 by Patricia McKenna (V) to the Commission (11 September 1996)

Subject: Commission programme on priority waste streams

What is the current status of the Commission programme on priority waste streams, which was adopted following a May 1990 Council resolution calling for Community-wide actions on particular types of waste? Can the Commission give a date for when it will be finalized?

In particular, can the Commission say what action it favours on health care waste and how it would define such waste?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (29 October 1996)

Following the Council Resolution of 7 May 1990 the Commission started, from 1991, the Priority waste streams programme on used tyres, end-of-life vehicles, chlorinated solvents, health care waste, construction and demolition waste, and waste from electrical and electronic equipment. Action on chlorinated solvents was quickly discontinued, the bulk of the chemicals addressed being covered by the negotiations which lead to the signing of the Montreal protocol on the substances depleting the ozone layer. The Commission received the results on used tyres in September 1993, on end-of-life vehicles in March 1994, on health care waste in November 1995, on construction and demolition waste in October 1995 and on waste from electrical and electronic equipment in September 1995.

Project working groups showed an unbalanced composition as industry representatives always outnumbered consumer and environmental non governmental organisation representatives, due to the unequal availability of resources, and the overall results of the different projects were industry-oriented. Overall, substantial work was produced, namely, concerning problem identification and fact finding. The project results leave the work of examining the possible need and the quantification of objectives to the Commission, as well as the evaluation of costs and benefits to the environment and the overall economic impact for the sectors in question.

Following the recommendation of the working group on end-of-life vehicles, the Commission started preparing a proposal for a directive on this matter. This proposal concerns the establishment of harmonized measures to improve the management of end-of-life vehicles, in order to contribute to the protection of the environment and to the functioning of the internal market.

The Community produces approximately 2 million tonnes of used tyres a year and most of these are presently disposed of in landfills. The working group on used tyres suggested that a landfill ban be introduced and that a Commission recommendation should set specific targets.

Concerning health care waste, the Commission expects to take a position on the issue before the end of 1996. Only a small proportion of this waste poses any greater risk than normal household or municipal waste. One option would be to have this waste included in the Community list of hazardous waste ((OJ L 356, 31.12.1994. )) so that there would be a Community consensus, under which health care wastes have to be treated with particular care. Member States are, under existing Community rules, not entitled to designate unilaterally and definitively other health care wastes as hazardous (Directive 91/689/EEC) ((OJ L 377, 31.12.1991. )).

Construction and demolition waste is the largest waste stream with a minimum annual amount of 480 million tonnes. Most are landfilled. The working group formulated a set of recommendations to the Commission which include the setting of targets for recovery and disposal of construction and demolition waste, achieving recovery orientated separation of waste, drawing up codes of practice for on-site waste management, drawing up environmental data sheets for construction products, and encouraging the appropriate use of reprocessed materials.

Community waste generation from electrical and electronic products is estimated to total 4 to 6 million tons a year. Recovery operations are presently mostly limited to the ferrous fraction of a restricted number of household consumer goods and some items of information technology professionally used. Around 90 per cent of the waste stream is disposed of (landfilled or incinerated without energy recovery) at the end of life thus contributing to high concentrations of heavy metals in soils. The working group document, which mainly reflects the views of the industry, acknowledged the need for some regulation at Community level.