WRITTEN QUESTION P-2915/97 by Luigi Florio (UPE) to the Commission (5 September 1997)

Subject: Waste disposal

At the beginning of August 1997, a large depot in Asti (Italy) caught fire. It contained a vast quantity of plastic waste (some 600 000 kilogrammes) which had been accumulated illegally for over a year.

The fire created a huge cloud of toxic fumes which posed a major threat to public health.

All the plastic waste in question originated from the same company, DKR, a German public company, which had 'disposed' of it by passing it on to the Italian firm DALPLAST which, in turn passed it on to smaller firms.

In view of the ever more frequent reports of uncontrolled and often illegal trading in waste:

1. Does the Commission intend to take special measures to put a stop to this extremely harmful practice throughout EU territory?

2. Does the Commission know whether the German company DKR has been in direct or indirect receipt of European funding for the selective collection and/or subsequent disposal of waste?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (25 September 1997)

1. Pursuant to Article 1.3(a) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 on the supervision and control of shipments of waste within, into and out of the European Community ((OJ L 30, 6.2.1993. )), shipments between Member States of waste listed in Annex II of this Regulation (commonly known as the 'green list') destined for recovery are generally excluded from control procedures other than those applied to normal commercial transactions. The reason for this is that waste listed in Annex II is not normally considered to present a risk to the environment if properly recovered in the Member State of destination.

Different categories of solid plastic waste are listed in Annex II of Regulation (EEC) No 259/93. Therefore, shipments between Germany and Italy of one homogeneous category of solid plastic waste listed in its Annex II for recovery may take place without prior notification and consent. If, however, the waste was destined for final disposal, the shipment should have been notified and prior authorisation of all authorities concerned would be required.

Notwithstanding the fact that shipments of 'green list' waste are generally excluded from control procedures under Regulation (EEC) No 259/93, in accordance with Article 1.3(b) of this Regulation, 'green list' waste shall be subject to all provisions of Directive 75/442/EEC on waste ((OJ L 194, 25.7.1975. )). In particular, it shall be destined for duly authorised facilities only. It is the responsibility of the Italian authorities to ensure that the facility concerned had the appropriate permit to store or recover the plastic waste in conditions which do not pose a threat to human health or the environment, including adequate safety measures against fire.

The legislative regime for intra-Community shipments of 'green list' waste for recovery as laid down in Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 is less stringent than for other shipments of waste where strict notification procedures apply, in order not to unduly hamper trade in recoverable wastes as this may have negative effects on the market for recoverable wastes and thus may affect the viability of separate collection systems. This could ultimately result in perfectly recoverable wastes having to be disposed of in landfill sites.

As outlined in the communication on the review of the waste strategy ((COM(96) 379. )), the Commission aims to encourage recovery (including energy recovery) and recycling rather than final disposal. Establishing a less stringent legal and administrative regime for shipments of certain wastes destined for recovery is one of the tools to facilitate recovery rather than to final disposal.

The Commission is of the opinion that illegal shipments are best fought by increased co-operation between authorities. Therefore, it supports the aims and objectives of the intergovernmental co-operation in the context of the IMPEL (Implementation and enforcement of environmental law) network, and in particular its working group III on illegal waste shipments.

2. To the knowledge of the Commission, DKR has not received any funding from the Community for the selective collection or subsequent disposal of waste.