WRITTEN QUESTION E-2803/96 by Armelle Guinebertière (UPE) to the Commission (25 October 1996)

Subject: Application of the Basle Convention

The recycling industry processes ordinary industrial waste such as scrap metal, non-ferrous metals, cardboard, glass, plastic, textiles, pallets, office consumables, leather and various other materials.

Processing gives rise to a product that:

- fulfils technical conditions and specifications,

- is subject to a contract on quality and quantity,

- corresponds to market requirements,

- has a use value, and

- has a descriptive list of its intrinsic qualities.

One objective of this process is to minimize final waste.

Products that fulfil these conditions are called secondary raw materials.

There is however a problem with this classification in that the Basle Convention of 22 March 1989, which bans trans-frontier shipments of waste from 1 January 1998, considers secondary raw materials to be waste.

This recycling, which operates on a largely international scale, will cease and the industry will have to confine itself to what the domestic market can consume and dispose of the remainder, which is the larger part. This is contrary to the objective of zero waste disposal by 2002.

Is it possible for secondary raw materials to be separated from waste in the Basle Convention, so that world stocks of raw materials will be conserved and the developing countries will continue to receive the secondary raw materials that they need?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (18 November 1996)

The Commission is aware that secondary raw materials may come under Community waste legislation, and under the Basel Convention on transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal. However, the Basel Convention applies to hazardous waste only.

In connection with the prohibition from 1 January 1998 of exports of hazardous waste for recovery to non-OECD countries (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), the conference of the Parties, at its third meeting in September 1995, asked the Convention's technical working party to produce more detailed lists of what does and does not constitute hazardous waste under the terms of the Convention; in other words, what would be covered by the export ban and what would not.

The technical working party has made substantial progress and expects to complete its work in April 1997, for presentation at the fourth conference of the Parties to the Convention, scheduled for October 1997.

At this stage, the provisional list of waste not regarded as hazardous contains a number of substances sometimes referred to as 'secondary raw materials' such as precious and non-ferrous metal waste and debris, other metal-containing waste, glass waste, ceramic waste, paper and cardboard waste, textile waste, rubber waste, cork and untreated wood waste, waste from the food and agri-food industries and solid plastic waste. The most comprehensive, up-to-date information on the subject may be obtained on request from the Basel Convention secretariat.

Once the fourth conference of the Parties to the Convention has taken a decision regarding the lists compiled by the technical working party, the Community, as a Party to the Basel Convention, will have to abide by these lists and, where necessary, amend Community law accordingly. Consequently, waste considered non-hazardous under the Basel Convention will not, in principle, be covered by the prohibition, from 1 January 1998, of transboundary shipments of waste for recovery to non-OECD countries, which will be incorporated into Council Regulation (EEC) 259/93 on shipments of waste within, into and out of the Community. ((Common position (EC) No. 30/96 - OJ C 219, 27.7.1996. ))