WRITTEN QUESTION E-1743/00

by Glyn Ford (PSE) to the Commission

(31 May 2000)

Subject: Recycling

Would the Commission provide the following information concerning the recycling policies of EU Member States:

1. What facilities have Member States put in place for the recycling of plastic?

2. Do Member States have a market for their recycled goods? If not, what does each Member State do with its recycled goods?

Réponse donnée par Mme Wallström au nom de la Commission

(14 July 2000)

The Commission does not yet have exhaustive information concerning facilities in the Community for the recycling of plastics nor a complete picture of the market for the recycled plastics material. The main reasons for this are the large variety of plastic materials and the fact that recycling plastics is a very recent industrial activity compared to the recycling of other more traditional materials.

However, this information should be made available by December 2000 after completion of a study(1) with special emphasis on the description of the different recycling processes for plastics. The study will consider as far as possible the different plastic materials namely PE (polyethylene), LDPE (low density polyethylene), HDPE (high density polyethylene), LLDPE (linear low density polyethylene), PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PP (polypropylene), PS (polystyrene), and PVC (polyvinylchloride).

In addition, it is worth noting that the promotion of recycling is one of the main objectives of Community waste policy. The preference for recycling over disposal is stated in the Community waste management strategy(2) and in Council Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975 as amended by Directive 91/156/EEC of 18 March 1991 on waste(3).

Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/EC of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste(4) sets targets for the recycling of packaging waste. Pursuant to Article 6 a minimum of 50 % and a maximum of 65 % of the packaging waste must be recovered. Within this target between 25 % and 45 % must be recycled, with a minimum of 15 % for each packaging material, including plastics.

Member States must comply with these targets. They are, however, not obliged to carry out the recycling on their own territory. Recycling is an industrial activity. Wastes destined for recovery are subject to the principle of free circulation of goods. Domestic markets must not necessarily exist for the whole amount of recycled waste.

According to the interim report(5) under Article 6.3(a) of Directive 94/62/EEC and the data submitted by Member States in the framework of the Commission Decision 97/138/EC of 3 February 1997 establishing the formats relating to the database system pursuant to Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste(6), recycling rate for plastics packaging waste was still in 1997 in several Member States below the target of 15 % set by this Directive. It was exceeded by Belgium (25 %), Germany (45 %), and Austria (20 %), while Italy, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden are not far from this rate. It is not clear, though, to what extent these figures include the so-called feedstock-recycling.

These incentive provisions have produced an increase of the recycling of plastics. Accordingly, the recycling of plastics has been doubled between 1994 and 1999(7) in the Community to reach a recycling rate around 9 %(8).

Following the communication on the competitiveness of the recycling industries(9) the Commission organised the recycling forum with the participation of all major parties. These discussions have produced a number of recommendations with a view to improving the framework conditions and the competitiveness of the recycling industry(10).

(1) Study on the evaluation of costs and benefits for the achievement of reuse and recycling targets for the different packaging materials in the frame of the packaging and packaging waste Directive 94/61/EC.

(2) COM(96) 399 final.

(3) OJ L 78, 26.3.1991.

(4) OJ L 365, 31.12.1994.

(5) COM(1999) 596 final.

(6) OJ L 52, 22.2.1997.

(7) according to industrial organisation data, APME report spring 1999 Association of plastics manufacturers in Europe.

(8) APME, Plastics An analysis of plastics consumption and recovery in Western Europe 1998.

(9) COM(98) 463 final.

(10) http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/events/recycling/recycling.htm.