COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION on the review of the Community Strategy for Waste Management
Date: 1996-07-30
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU environmental policy, environmental protection, sustainable development, waste, waste management

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COMMISSION  OF THE EUROPEAN  COMMUNITIES 

Brussels,  30.07.1996 
COM(96) 399  final 

COMMUNICATION  FROM THE COMMISSION 

on die review of the Community Strategy 

for Waste Management 

DRAFT 

COUNCIL RESOLUTION 

on waste policy 

(presented  by the Commission) 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Executive summary 

INTRODUCTION 

THE CONTEXT 

OBJECTIVES 

1. 

2. 

3. 

3 .1 

Tjffi  GENERAL PHILOSOiMY OF THE COMMUiVn^ 

3.1.1  The hierarchy of principles of waste management policy 

3.1.2  Producer responsibility 

3.2 

SPECIFIC  OBJECTIVES 

3.2.1  Prevention 

3.2.2  Recovery 

3.2.3  Final disposal 

3.3 

PRIORITY  WASTE  STREAMS 

3.4 

THE  SHIPMENT  OF  WASTE 

4. 

INSTRUMENTS 

4.1 

REGULATORY  INSTRUMENTS 

4.2 

ECONOMIC  INSTRUMENTS 

4.3 

WASTE  STATISTICS 

4.4 

OTHER  MANAGEMENT  INSTRUMENTS 

4.4.1 

Implementation,  enforcement  and  monitoring  of  existing 
provisions 

4.4.2  Management plans 

4.4.3  Committees 

4.4.4  Life-cycle analyses, eco-balances 

5. 

6. 

ACTORS 

CONCLUSIONS 

Executive summary 

The review establishes as the general  objective of the community waste management policy  the 
need to  ensure  a high  degree  of  environmental  protection without distorting  the  functioning 
of the internal market with a view to promoting sustainable developmenl. To reach this twofold 
objective  the review  spells out the following  elements as being of paramount  importance: 

*  A comprehensive and integrated  legal  framework 
*  Appropriate definitions  of waste related concepts. 
*  Suitable rules and  principles: proximity  and  self-sufficiency. 
*  Reliable  and comparable data. 

The review  confirms  the hierarchy  of  principles  established  by  the strategy  document  of  1989 
that  prevention  of waste  shall  remain the first  priority, followed  by recovery  and finally  by 
the safe disposal  of waste.  The implementation of this hierarchy  should be guided by considering 
the best environmental  solution  taking  into account  economic  and  social costs. 

As regards the prevention principle, the following measures should be particularly  developed: 
promotion  of clean technologies  and products,  reduction of the hazardousness of wastes, the 
establishment  of  technical  standards  and  possibly  EC-wide  rules  to  limit  the  presence  of 
certain  dangerous  substances in  products, the promotion  of  reuse and  recycling  schemes, the 
appropriate use of economic instruments, eco-balances, eco-audit schemes, life-cycle  analysis 
and  actions  on  consumer  information  and  education  as well  as the development  of  the eco-
label  system. 

Within the recovery principle, where environmentally  sound, preference  should in general be 
given  to the recovery  of  material  over energy  recovery  operations.  This  reflects  the  greater 
effect  on  the  prevention  of  waste  produced  by  material  recovery  rather  than  by  energy 
recovery. 

Concerning  final  disposal,  particular  care  should  be  taken  to  avoid  as  much  as  possible 
incineration  operations  without  energy  recovery.  Uncontrolled  landfilling  and  contaminated 
sites are two problems requiring  special  and  strong actions at different  levels. 

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The  strategy  addresses the  question  of  producer  responsibility.  Considering  the  life  cycle  of  a 
product  from  manufacture  until  the  end  of  its  useful  life,  producers,  material  suppliers,  trade, 
consumers and  public authorities  share specific  waste management  responsibilities. However  it is 
the product manufacturer  who has a predominant role since he talces key decisions concerning  his 
product  which  largely  determine  its  waste  management  potential.  This  principle  will,  thus,  be 
integrated  in  future  measures,  on  a  case  by  case  basis,  taking  into  account  the  specific 
responsibilities  of the different  economic  operators. 

The reviewed  strategy  on the priority  waste  streams  programme  suggests that the approach  has 
not  been  sufficiently  successful  to  replace  the  traditional  preparatory  stage  of  the  institutional 
decision making process; therefore,  in principle, no new specific projects will be initiated. Rather, 
waste  streams and  material  flows will  be examined  on a case by  case basis. 

The  strategy  reaffirms  the  need  for  appropriate  control  of  shipment  of  waste  within  the  legal 
framework  set up by Regulation (EEC) No 259/93. Particular attention is to be paid to achieve the 
double  objective  of  ensuring  a  high  level  of  environmental  protection  without  distorting  the 
functioning  of the  internal  market.  Appropriate  application  of the  proximity  and  self-sufficiency 
principles  is needed.  These principles  entail  that waste must be disposed  of in one of the nearest 
appropriate  installations  and that waste which  is  generated  within  the  Community  should  not be 
disposed of elsewhere. However, these principles only apply to waste destined for disposal, not to 
waste for  recovery. 

The  new  document  includes  a  chapter  on the  instruments  which  are to be used,  at  all  different 
levels,  in  order  to achieve  the  objectives  fixed  by  the  strategy,  namely  regulatory  and  economic 
instruments,  reliable  and  comparable  statistics  on waste  and  other  management  instruments  such 
as waste management plans, appropriate enforcement  of legislation  and impartial use of life  cycle 
analysis and eco-balances. 

As far as actors are concerned, the strategy recognizes the need for an active role of all  economic 
operators  involved  in  the  pursuit  of  waste  policy  objectives.  Indeed,  these  cannot  be  achieved 
without  the  participation  of  public  authorities,  private  and  public  companies,  environmental 
organizations  and,  in particular,  individuals as citizens and consumers. 

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1.  INTRODUCTION 

1  Waste is a form  of pollution of growing concern. However, sound and appropriately planned 
waste  management  policies  can  contribute  both  to  the  conservation  of  scarce  natural 
resources  and  protect  the  quality  of  the  environment,  and  thus  effectively  contribute  to 
sustainable  development. 

2 

In  September  1989,  the  Commission  made  a  Communication  to  the  Council  and  to  the 
European  Parliament  on  a  Community  strategy  for  waste management  (SEC(89)  934 final 
of  18.9.89). Council and Parliament approved this strategy in their respective Resolutions of 
7 May  1990 (OJC  122/2, 18.5.90) and  19 February  1991(OJC 72/34, 18.3.91). Furthermore, 
Parliament  advocated,  in  a  second  Resolution  of  22  April  1994,  the  need  for  further 
development  of the Community  strategy  on waste management  (OJ C  128/471, 9.5 94). 

3  The  present  Communication  on  the  Community  waste  strategy  aims  at  reviewing  the 
Commission's  Communication  of  1989 and to  adapt  it to the requirements  of the next  five 
years1.  Indeed,  a  number  of  very  important  events  and  factors  have  intervened  since  1989 
influencing  the attitude of national  and Community  administrations and economic  operators 
in the waste area. These suggest the Commission  should reaffirm  and/or adapt the principles 
which  will  guide its waste policy. 

\  First,  the  Community  has  adopted  a  whole  number  of  new  legal  instruments  on  waste. 
Second,  the European  Court of Justice has issued  a series of judgments on cases that  affect 
wastes.  These  assist  with  the  orientation  of  national  and  Community  waste  management 
measures. Further, the Treaty on European Union and the adoption of the  Fifth  Environment 
Action Programme, currently  being reviewed, have determined  the framework  within which 
waste  management  activities  inside  the  European  Community  are  exercised.  Furthermore, 
economic,  social, technical  and  environmental  factors  have evolved  and  strongly  influenced 
the waste management  policy.  Also, the European  Union is preparing  for  enlargement  with 
applicant  countries from  Central  and Eastern  Europe, as well  as Cyprus and Malta.  Finally, 
on the international level, both the Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment 
and Development (Agenda 21) and the conclusion of the Basel Convention  on the control of 
transboundary movements of hazardous waste and their disposal, stressed the need to prevent 
and/or  minimize  the  generation  of  hazardous  wastes  as  well  as to  manage  those  wastes  in 
such a way  that they  do not cause harm  to health  and the  environment. 

1  This review ttocs nflj çoyej ratioftotive waste, 

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Seven years after the first Communication on waste strategy, it is appropriate now to inform 
the European Parliament and the Council as well as the Economic and Social Committee and 
the  Committee  of  the  Regions,  public  authorities,  economic  operators,  environmental  and 
consumer  organizations  of  the  review  of  the  1989  waste  strategy.  The  Commission  has 
recently  adopted and transmitted to the European Parliament and to the Council  a report on 
the  measures  taken  since the  adoption  of  the first Communication  (COM(95)  522 final of 
8.11.95). 

When putting the present Communication  into operation,  full  account will  be taken of the 
Community's obligations under international law, in particular as regards trade, as well as of 
the principles governing other EC policies. 

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2.  THE CONTEXT 

7  Wastes  are  material  objects.  The  European  Community  has  established  an  internal  market 
where  national  borders  are  no  longer  economic  borders  and  where  the  free  circulation  of 
goods  is  of  paramount  importance.  Member  States  are  under  an  obligation  to  respect  the 
provisions of the EC Treaty, such as those on the free  movement  of goods in Articles 30-36 
with  regard  to  national  rules  and  administrative  practices  when  applying  and  interpreting 
Community law. The European  Court of Justice has stipulated that the term  "goods" for  the 
purposes  of  the  Treaty  covers  goods  irrespective  of  their  value,  nature,  characteristics  and 
purpose. In this context, waste must be considered  as goods under  Article 30 irrespective of 
whether they will be reused, recycled  or disposed  of (case C-2/90,  Commission  v Belgium). 
However,  the  European  Court  of  Justice  noted  that  wastes  are  goods  of  a  specific  nature 
which may constitute a risk to the environment.  Therefore,  in light of Article 36 and  on the 
basis of the principle that environmental  damage  should  as a priority  be rectified  at source, 
the  free  movement  of  waste  may  be  limited  for  reasons  of  environmental  protection  in 
accordance with  existing  legislation. 

8  As  a  step  in  this  direction,  the  1989  waste  strategy  introduced  elements  of  the  proximity 
principle.  This  means  that  waste  must  be  disposed  of  "in  one  of  the  nearest  appropriate 
installations". Furthermore, it proclaimed the principle of  self-sufficiency  in waste disposal, 
in  the  first  instance  for  the  Community  as  a  whole,  reflecting  the  general  idea  that  waste 
which is generated within the Community  should not be disposed  of outside the Community. 
Legislation  enacted  since then takes due account of these principles in applying them to the 
disposal  of  all waste, not however to the recovery  of waste. 

9 

In  the  past,  a  number  of  Member  States  have  relied  to  a  large  extent  on  the  principles  of 
proximity  and  self-sufficiency  in  order  to  establish  and  maintain  adequate  and  sustainable 
waste  management  systems.  The  Commission  is  of  the  opinion  that  these  national 
considerations and  practices can have a valid  role provided  they comply  with the provisions 
of the Treaty  and  respect the principles of the internal  market,  where these apply. 

10  Community  waste legislation  has tried to strike a balance between the need for  a high level 
of environmental  protection  - now required by  Article  130r of the EC Treaty - and the need 
for  an  appropriate  level  of regulation  to  ensure the functioning  of the internal  market.  This 
would allow economic operators to act within the Community  while creating a level playing 
field for  waste by  establishing  common  rules yet respecting the legitimate wish  of Member 
States to  define  and implement  waste policies and  waste  management  measures  at  national 
level. This diversity of objectives has manifested itself in that a number of Community waste 
directives are based on Article  100a of the EC Treaty, while others have taken Article  130s 
as their legal  basis.  It  is the  aim  of this  strategy  to contribute,  in  the  area  of  waste,  to  the 
achievement  of  a  high  protection  of  the  environment  within  the  internal  market.  The 
Commission  is determined  to  achieve this  objective  and  appeals to  all  interested  parties  to 
support  this  effort. 

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11 The Community policy on environment aims to provide a high level of protection. Therefore, 
emissions from  installations to the environment  (air, water,  soil) should be reduced  as much 
as possible and in the most economically efficient  way. The environmental  impact of a given 
emission  has the  same potential  irrespective  of the emitting  process.  Consequently,  there  is 
no  reason  to  set  up  different  standards  for  different  sectors  (industry  and  waste  treatment 
facilities)  as long as the input material  and process is comparable.  The same strict standards 
should, in principle, apply for waste whether it is treated in industrial installations or in waste 
treatment  installations  (recovery  or  disposal).  The  Commission  work  in  future  will  aim  at 
achieving  this.  Also,  care  must  be  taken  to  ensure  that  standards  which  are  fixed  to  limit 
emissions into  one environmental  medium  (air,  water  or  soil) do not  lead to  an increase  of 
emissions into other media. This basic philosophy,  set out in the proposal for a Directive on 
Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) for industrial installations, including waste 
treatment  installations,  must  also guide any  Community  strategy  on waste. 

12  The  Commission  is  convinced  that  only  very  strict  environmental  standards  for  all  waste 
management  installations  can  help  to  overcome  the  far-spread  concern  of  the  population 
which finds its concrete  application  in the NIMBY  syndrome  (not  in  my back yard). 

13  The  discussion  on  the  distinction  between  waste  and  goods  has  been  going  on  for  almost 
twenty years now. No satisfactory  definition  has yet been found to determine when a material 
becomes waste  and when waste becomes  a good  again.  A sometimes favoured  solution  has 
been to consider a material  as a good when it has economic value. This would not be in line 
either with the EC-definition  of waste or with the opinion  of the Court of Justice which  has 
specified  that the definition  of waste is independent  of the economic value that the discarded 
object  may have and declared wastes without an economic value to be goods in the sense of 
Article  30  of  the  EC  Treaty,  though  of  a  specific  nature.  Notwithstanding  the  inherent 
difficulty  of  this  question,  practical  implications  necessitate  further  efforts  involving  all 
parties  concerned,  including  international  organisations,  towards finding  such  a  definition. 

14  The  definitions  of  "waste"  and  of  "hazardous  waste",  given  in  Council  Directives 
75/442/EEC,  as  amended  by  Directive  91/156/EEC,  and  91/689/EEC  did  not  solve  all  the 
problematic cases of  distinction  between  wastes and goods  which  have arisen.  Nevertheless 
they have aimed at serving the double objective of environmental  protection and  functioning 
of the internal  market. 

15  When  implementing  EC legislation  Member  States have adopted  rather  different  notions of 
waste  and  hazardous  waste  and  established  different  waste  lists.  For  this  reason,  the 
Commission  believes that the realisation  of the above objective will only be achieved where 
all  Member  States  incorporate  the  EC  definitions  of  waste  and  hazardous  waste  and  the 
respective  lists  in  their  national  legislation  This  would  avoid  the  use  of  widely  different 
terminology  -  industrial  waste,  ultimate  waste,  secondary  raw  material,  special  waste  etc -
which only contributes to difficulties  for economic operators and administrations. At the same 
time,  there  would,  in  principle,  be  only  one  EC-wide  list  for  "waste"  and  for  "hazardous 
waste", a situation  which would  considerably  increase transparency,  planning and economic 
security  for  all  parties  involved. 

In the context of the pre-accession  strategy,  special  attention  will  be paid to the countries of 
Central and Eastern Europe that are preparing to become Members of the Union. Along with 
the adaptation  of legislation  to Community  level, practical  measures to  ensure  enforcement 
and application  will  need to be  strengthened. 

16 Where  Member  States  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  lists  are  not  completely  or  correctly 
reflecting  the different  "wastes" or "hazardous wastes", they  are at present entitled to adopt 
or maintain more stringent  national  provisions; furthermore it  should be noted that a waste 
not featuring on the Community list may be covered by some other relevant EC legislation. 
However,  these  measures  must  be  notified  to  the  Commission.  A  specific,  simplified 
committee procedure exists in order to adapt the EC lists to any new requirement. 

17 According tp the recent publication Europe's Environment: Statistical Compendium for  the 
Dobris Assessment, in  1990 the total  amount of  waste generated  in the  15 Member  States 
purported to be about 910 million tonnes (excluding agricultural waste); of those 22 million 
tonnes were hazardous.  The potential  environment  impact of these quantities is enormous. 
However,  it is extremely  difficult,  if not impossible,  to draw up a consistent picture across 
different  countries  within  a  given  time-frame  to  indicate  any  clear  trend  in  the  area  of 
quantitative aspects of waste for the last  10 years.  Little data is available before  1985 and 
the figures available  more  recently  are  patchy  and  hard  to  compare  or  aggregate.  This 
reflects the lack of a systematic data collection at the Community level, using a standard and 
uniform scope, coverage, definitions  and nomenclature.  The issue of statistical data will be 
tackled in more detail  in chapter 4.3. 

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3.  OBJECTIVES 

3.1  THE  GENERAL  PHILOSOPHY  OF THE  COMMUNITY  WASTE  MANAGEMENT  POLICY 

3.1.1  The hierarchy  of  principles  of waste  management  policy 

18 As  significant  as  they  are  for  any  waste  policy,  recovery  and  disposal  of  waste  do  not 
constitute the  most  important  elements of  such  a policy.  Indeed,  the generation  of waste is 
a form  of pollution  and at the same time a "waste" of resources. Therefore the key  objective 
of any Community waste policy based on the precautionary  and preventive principle must be 
to  prevent  the  generation  of  waste  and,  furthermore,  to  reduce  the  content  of  hazardous 
materials in waste. This simultaneously avoids any risk to human health and the environment. 
In  the  long  term  such  a  policy  will  require  the  integration  of  any  waste-related  problem 
already  into the production  phase and thus help to promote  sustainable  development. 

19  The  recovery  concept  has  to  be  considered  in  its  triple  dimension:  re-use,  recycling  and 
energy  recovery.  Waste which  cannot  be  avoided  should  be recovered  according  to  one of 
these methods. Final  disposal has to be safe and limited to waste for which no possibility of 
recovery  exists. 

20  The  Commission  therefore  confirms  the  hierarchy  of  principles  established  by  the  strategy 
document  of  1989 that  prevention  of the generation  of waste  shall  remain  the first priority, 
followed  by the recovery  of waste and finally  by the safe  disposal  of waste.  Obviously  this 
hierarchy  has to be  applied  with  a certain  flexibility.  The implementation  of  this  hierarchy 
should  be  guided  by  considering  the  best  environmental  solution  taking  into  account 
economic and social costs. A sound waste management strategy should refer to analytical and 
decision-making  techniques  assessing  the benefits  and  costs  of  action  or  lack  of  action  for 
the environment. However, the Commission believes that in any case waste prevention  must 
be considered  preferable  to any  other possible  solution. 

21  In this respect the internalisation  of external  (environmental) costs approach may be  helpful. 
External  costs  are  the  costs  of  natural  and  material  resources  not  yet  reflected  in  their 
market  prices  and  the  costs  (damages)  to  environmental  quality  that  arise  throughout  the 
product  cycle  including  the  management  of  the waste  streams.  Valuing  these  external  cost 
elements  in  monetary  terms  and  internalising  them  to  the  product  price  at  its various  life-
cycle  stages would,  in  principle, bring  about via the market  mechanism  an  environmentally 
and  economically  optimal  Waste  management  system.  In  practice  a  range  of  practical 
difficulties  limits the implementation of an overall internalisation  strategy for the time being. 

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22  The Commission will continue to promote this hierarchy in the coming years, by establishing 
legal,  economic  and  administrative  instruments  which  allow these  principles  to be  pursued 
throughout  the Community. 

23  With a view to substantially  reducing the amount of waste generated  as well as to generally 
achieve high waste recovery objectives, the Commission will make proposals in areas where 
quantitative  targets  may  be  fixed  at  Community  level.  In  this  context,  it  will  be  very 
important to ensure that the quantities of waste which are generated in the different  industrial 
processes  are  properly  monitored  and  made  transparent  so  that  the  effectiveness  of  the 
different  measures can be assessed.  Furthermore,  economic  operators  are encouraged  to  set 
quantitative  targets  for  waste  reduction  and  recovery  at  the  level  of  individual  production 
units.  Finally  there is a considerable  potential  for  reducing  and  recovering  municipal  waste 
in a more sustainable fashion  for  which  new targets also will  be set. 

3.1.2  Producer  responsibility 

24  A preventive waste policy which aims at preventing generation of waste must begin with the 
product  and  production  process.  Waste  management  concerns  have  to  be  fully  taken  into 
account from the product's design or conception phase.  To be effective,  it implies that action 
is necessary at all  stages of a product's life cycle from  production, through use to collection, 
re-use, recycling  and final  disposal. 

25  In the past,  the  concept  of waste management  in terms  of  costs and  related  responsibilities 
for  the  disposal  of  products  that  became  waste  was  traditionally  born  either  by  the 
environment  itself  or by  the tax  payer.  This approach  is not compatible with the  principles 
of Article  130r of the EC Treaty, in particular the precautionary and prevention principles as 
well  as that  the  polluter  should  pay  and  that  environmental  impairment  should  be  rectified 
at source. 

26  These basic principles aim  at closing the life  cycle of substances, components and  products 
from  their  production  through  their  useful  life  until  they  become waste.  The objective  can 
only be attained if responsibility  rests with the economic operators who may make the most 
efficient  contribution towards the protection, preservation  and improvement of the quality of 
the  environment. 

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27  Considering  the  life  cycle  of  a  product  from  manufacture  until  the  end  of  its  useful  life, 
producers,  material  suppliers,  trade,  consumers  and  public  authorities  share  specific  waste 
management responsibilities. However it is the product manufacturer who has a predominant 
role.  The  manufacturer  is the  one to take  key  decisions  concerning  the waste  management 
potential  of  his product,  such  as design,  conception,  use of  specific  materials,  composition 
of  the  product  and  finally  its  marketing.  The  manufacturer  is therefore  able to  provide  the 
means not only to avoid waste by a considered utilization of natural resources, renewable raw 
materials or non-hazardous materials, but also to conceive products in a way which  facilitates 
proper  re-use and recovery.  Marking,  labelling,  the issue of instructions for  use and  of data 
sheets may  contribute to this aim. 

28  This approach is compatible with the concept of shared responsibility as proposed in the Fifth 
Environment  Action  Programme.  Indeed,  this  concept  underlines  that  progress  in 
environmental  policies  can  only  be  achieved  when  action  is taken by  all  actors involved  in 
a  coherent way. 

29  The  Commission  intends  to  integrate  and  practically  implement  the  above-mentioned 
principles in all future  measures, on a case by case basis, which it proposes or undertakes in 
the  waste  area,  taken  into  account  the  specific  responsibilities  of  the  different  economic 
operators. 

3.2 

SPECIFIC  OBJECTIVES 

3.2.1  Prevention 

30  The environmental  impact of a product  or an installation  is not limited  to the generation  of 
waste.  Therefore,  the  impact  of  a  specific  material  object  on  the  environment  should  be 
evaluated  during  its whole life  cycle.  The burden  on the environment  should  thus normally 
be determined by the use of "cradle-to-grave approaches", i.e. by assessing the impact of the 
extraction of virgin raw materials, through processing, manufacturing, transporting, using and 
handling as waste. The aim of such an approach is to conserve raw materials and energy on 
the one hand,  and to reduce the generation  of waste, in  particular  its hazardousness,  on the 
other hand. A higher degree of dematerialisation  in processes, products and  services should 
be achieved  in the long term. 

31  Methods  for  life-cycle  analyses for  products  do not  yet  exist  in  a sufficiently  consolidated 
form. However, with further  developments, these methods should, in future,  prove to be very 
useful  for  strategic waste planning. 

32  The  strategy  document  of  1989  indicated  that  the  prevention  of  the  generation  of  waste 
should mainly be assured by the use of clean technologies in the production process and by 
an action on products, for which it suggested the introduction of an eco-label  system  at EC 
level. 

33  It cannot be denied that the Community's achievements in the prevention of waste generation 

are not satisfactory.  Indeed, waste quantities have on average continued to grow. 

34  The Commission will  continue to promote clean technologies in the context of the different 
funding  facilities  which  are  available  (e.g.  LIFE,  Environment  and  Climate  Programme, 
Industrial and Materials Technologies Programme) and to influence their adoption by Member 
States  and  economic  operators  where  possible,  for  instance  by  instruments  such  as  the 
proposal for a Directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control. The Commission will 
seek to improve the environmental  dimension of technical standards in the framework  of the 
European  Committee  for  Standardization  (CEN), in  order to ensure that product standards 
already incorporate the problems which occur when the product reaches the end of its useful 
life-time.  The  Commission  will  promote  and  favour  the  reuse  and  recycling,  where 
environmentally sound and economically viable, since mis reduces the need to produce new 
products and thus new (future) waste. 

35  In particular cases,  waste prevention might lead to the need for EC-wide rules to limit the 
presence of heavy metals in products or in the production process or ban specific  substances 
in order to prevent, at a later stage, the generation of hazardous waste. This might be the case 
where  neither  the  reuse  nor  the  recovery  or  the  safe  disposal  of  that  substance  is  an 
environmentally  acceptable solution. 

36  An important element for promoting the prevention of waste is certainly the price element. 
Where the price of natural resources is low,  more waste is generated; also, where the price 
of waste disposal  is significant,  waste generators are likely  to avoid these costs by making 
efforts  to reduce the generation of  wastes. Finally,  economic  instruments  such as charging 
products  which  are  neither  reusable  nor recyclable,  are methods  which  are  used  in  some 
Member States in order to orient consumers' preference to other products. The Commission 
will endeavour to promote the use of economic instruments in the waste sector in accordance 
with the rules of the internal market. 

37  Other ways  to  contribute  to the  prevention  of  waste  are eco-audit  schemes  for  economic 
operators which increase awareness of the amount of waste generated and thereby constitute 
an  incentive  to  develop  waste  prevention  strategies.  The  EC  Regulation  on  eco-audit 
constitutes  a  basic  instrument  on  which  Member  States  can  build.  Also  the  eco-label 
Regulation may be applied to the waste management area to promote products which generate 
less  waste  It  is  recognized,  though,  that  with  regard to  these  instruments,  the  particular 
concerns of small  and medium  sized enterprises need to be taken into consideration. 

- 9-

38  More  generally,  considerable  achievements  in  waste  prevention  might  be  gained  where 
consumers  can  be  encouraged  to  acquire  products  which  pollute  less,  which  come  from 
recovered  materials  or  which  themselves  can be  reused  or  recycled.  The  Commission  will 
endeavour  to promote  consumer  information  and  education  in this  area and  thus  contribute 
to progressive  changes in the consumption patterns. 

39  The  Commission  will  continue  to  establish  at  Community  level  the  appropriate  legal  and 
institutional  framework  to promote prevention of waste generation. However, the success of 
this strategy requires the determination of Member States, economic operators and consumers 
alike.  Joint  efforts  of  local,  regional,  national  and  Community  authorities  are necessary  in 
order to prove that waste prevention pays in terms of price and consumer satisfaction  as well 
as environmental  protection. 

3.2.2  Recovery 

40  Recovery  of  waste  is  at  the  core  of  any  sustainable  waste  management  policy.  Therefore, 
where  the  generation  of  waste  cannot  be  avoided,  it  should  be  reused  or  recovered  for  its 
material  or  energy. 

41  Re-use  of  a product  should,  where  environmentally  sound,  be  further  encouraged,  since  it 
helps  to  avoid  waste  generation.  Waste  can  otherwise  be  recovered  mainly  by  means  of 
material  recovery,  which  means  that  some  or  all  materials  contained  in  the  waste  are 
reprocessed  in  order  to  make  new  products,  or  by  energy  recovery  operations,  where  the 
energy  is extracted  by the use of the waste as a  fuel. 

42  Material recovery implies the separation of wastes at the source. This involves end-users and 
consumers in the waste management chain and makes them more aware of the necessity and 
the ways to decrease the generation of waste. Indeed, it is the end-users and consumers who 
should  carry  out the  separation  of wastes before  disposal  in order to reintroduce  recyclable 
wastes  in  the  production  cycle.  Furthermore,  energy  strategies  relying  on  waste  supplies 
should  not  be  detrimental  to the principles  of  prevention  and  material  recovery.  Indeed,  in 
many  cases  it  can  be  assumed  that  by  retaining  the  existing  material  structure  of  the 
recoverable waste, it will be possible to minimise the additional material and energy necessary 
to  produce  a new  product.  Also, material  recovery  addresses the  concerns  about  emissions 
from waste  incineration  installations. 

In  view  of  the  above,  preference  should  be  given,  where  environmentally  sound,  to  the 
recovery  of material  over energy recovery  operations. This general rule is based  on the  fact 
that material recovery  has a greater effect  on waste prevention than energy recovery. It will 
nevertheless  be  necessary  to  take  into  account  the  environmental,  economic  and  scientific 
effects  of  either  option.  The  evaluation  of  these  effects  could  lead,  in  certain  cases,  to 
preference  being  given to the energy recovery  option. 

-  10 

Material  recovery 

43  As regards material recovery, it seems fair to state that the complexity  of products, in terms 
of material  composition  and structure, has considerably  increased  over the years. However, 
the  recycling  industry  is  often  characterized  by  the  fact  that  it  only  handles  more  simple 
products. It will therefore be an  important task to develop a recycling industry which is based 
on modern methods and technologies,  which allow an economically  profitable  reprocessing 
of discarded products. 

44  Closer liaison should be established between all the economic operators of the production and 
distribution chain, in order to improve and promote recyclability  of materials and products. 
In particular,  materials used  should be easily  separable and compatible when recycled, and 
products should be designed in such a way that their disassembly  is facilitated. 

45  The  creation  of  outlets  for  materials  and  products  of  recycling  activities  should  also  be 
promoted all over the Community.  This implies that economic operators and consumers are 
convinced that materials and products which come in part or in full  from recycled materials 
satisfy  the same standards for health, safety  and the environment as "new" products. Public 
procurement requirements can play  an important part in promoting recycled products. 

Energy  recovery 

46  As a source of energy, waste recovery operations are of growing importance. However, there 
remain  considerable  problems  in  detail.  Some  Member  States  have  adopted  different 
definitions  as  regards  the  distinction  between  waste  incineration  with  and  without  energy 
recovery. The Commission thus envisages further action to clarify definitions within this area. 
In this context, in the future it may have to be considered whether there should be EC quality 
requirements  to  define  when  a  given  incineration  operation  is  a  recovery  or  a  disposal 
operation. Furthermore,  as regards terminology, the notion of "recycling" should be limited 
to  material  recovery  and,  as  Council  Directive  94/62/EC  already  stated  in  the  area  of 
packaging and packaging waste, not include energy recovery operations. 

47  Energy recovery operations should be carried out by using the produced energy in the most 
efficient  way.  This implies that consideration  will  have to be given  to whether only  waste 
being able to provide a net calorific gain should be considered as waste for energy recovery. 

48  Emissions  of  energy  recovery  plants must be minimized  and comply  with EC regulations; 
particular  attention  will  have  to  be  paid  to  installations  which  originally  had  not  been 
designed to use waste as fuel  substitute.  In all  installations incineration must be carried out 
in a way that the material residues can be disposed of in an environmentally  sound manner. 

-  11 -

3.2 .3  Final disposal 

49  Final  disposal  of waste is carried out mainly  by  waste incineration  without  energy  recovery 
and  landfill  of  waste.  Sometimes  the  dumping  or  the  discharge  of  waste  at  sea  is  also 
considered  as  an  option.  In  conformity  with  several  international  conventions,  the 
Commission  is of the opinion  that the discharge of waste into the sea or the seabed  is not a 
desirable option  and should be avoided. This applies to all forms of waste, including end-of-
life  ships and other bulky  wastes. 

50  According to Directive 75/442/EEC, Member States are required to take appropriate measures 
to  establish  an  integrated  and  adequate  network  of  waste  disposal  installations  which  will 
allow  the  Community  to  become  self-sufficient  as  regards  the  disposal  of  waste.  Without 
doubt,  the  waste  management  plans,  which  all  Member  States  have  to  elaborate,  will 
contribute to progressively  establishing  this EC-wide  network. 

51  Frequently,  the  cost  of  waste  disposal  does  not  reflect  the  true  costs  of  the  environmental 
damage caused. For instance, the costs for  the whole life-time  of a landfill  - a hundred years 
or  more  -  are  often  not  taken  into  consideration.  Low  prices  for  waste  disposal  offer  no 
incentive  to  recovery  operations  or  the  pre-treatment  of  waste.  Therefore  Member  States 
should,  in  the  long  run,  ensure  that  the  price  to  be paid  for  these  operations  is made  more 
transparent. In particular, the objective should be that the price accurately reflects the full  cost 
of disposal, for  example as regards the closure and aftercare  of a facility. This would restore 
the balance between costs for  waste disposal operations, which at present tend to be too low, 
and costs for other treatment methods, e.g. environmentally  sound recovery operations which 
are relatively  high. 

52  Incineration of waste reduces the volume of waste. Nevertheless, incineration  without energy 
recovery  does not  contribute  to saving  resources.  Consequently,  energy  recovery  should  be 
promoted  for  all  incineration  installations.  Where  incineration  takes place, the  emission  of 
pollutants must be minimized, in particular  as regards heavy  metals, dioxin  and furan;  strict 
monitoring of the installations is necessary as regards compliance with existing legislation and 
in  particular  the  recently  adopted  Directive  94/67/EC.  Again,  installations  which  were  not 
originally  designed  to incinerate  waste need  special  attention. 

53  The landfilling  of  waste  should,  in principle, be  seen  as the  last  - and  least  best  -  solution. 
It  has  a  negative  impact  on  the  environment,  in  particular  where  the  long-term  effects  of 
landfill  are  being  taken  into  consideration.  This  does  not  exclude  that,  in  particular  cases, 
landfill  is the only reasonable form  of waste disposal. However, waste strategies should take 
serious efforts  to prevent and, should that not be possible, to minimize the quantities of waste 
that  goes to  landfill.  Means to  achieve this  are in  particular waste prevention  and  recovery 
operations. Also, waste should be sorted and/or pre-treated before  it is landfilled,  in order to 
reduce  quantities  of  waste  and/or  eliminate  hazardous  wastes  going  to  landfill.  In  the  mid 
term, the  Commission  considers  that only  non  recoverable  waste and inert  waste should  be 
accepted in  landfills. 

12 

54  Following the rejection by the European Parliament of the common position of the Council 
for a Directive on landfill,  the Commission  will  shortly present a new proposal  which  will 
fix strict requirements/for  authorizing landfill  sites.  The Directive will  progressively  be put 
into  practice  in  Member  States  and  allow  for  better  environmental  protection  against 
contamination and other risks stemming from landfill. The Commission will  ensure over the 
coming years that the Directive is fully  put into operation, 

55  There  is  a  considerable  potential  for  damage  to  the  environment  which  comes  from 
contaminated  sites  such  as  old  landfills,  unauthorized  discharges  of  waste,  abandoned 
industrial or military sites etc.. These sites will need special attention and efforts with a view 
to  their  cleaning-up.  Also,  particular  care  will  have  to  be  taken  of  old  mines  and  other 
underground sites, where the permanent storage of waste might, from an environmental point 
of view, constitute the same or even a more serious risk to the environment than the ordinary 
landfill. 

56  Some Member States have started with clean-up measures for contaminated sites, which often 
reveal to be expensive and difficult.  The Commission is of the opinion that the  identification 
and rehabilitation of such contaminated sites is first of all the task of Member States, which 
will  also  have  to  consider  to  what  extent  the  polluter-pays-principle  should  be  made 
operational for such cases. In future, an exchange of experience, of know-how and of clean 
up technologies among Member States is desirable. This problem is likely to be of particular 
importance in Central and Eastern Europe. 

3 J 

PRIORITY  WASTE STREAMS 

57  Following  the  Council  Resolution  of  7  May  1990,  which  asked  for  EC-wide  actions  for 
particular types of waste, the Commission developed a priority waste streams programme. The 
action  concentrated  on  used  tyres,  end-of-life  vehicles,  healthcare  waste,  construction  and 
demolition  waste and waste from  electrical  and electronic  equipment. 

58  The working method was inspired by Dutch experience  which had led to the conclusion of 
Dutch  covenants  on  specific  types  of  wastes; such  covenants  are  agreements  between  the 
Government, economic operators and possibly non-governmental organisations, which agree 
to  the  achievement  of  targets  for  waste  reduction  or  recovery  that  were  set  by  the 
Government.  However,  at EC level,  no  targets  were  fixed.  The  working  groups  included 
representatives from national governments, the Commission services, raw material producers, 
manufacturers, product retailers, environmental  and consumer protection associations etc. 

13 

59  The initial idea to obtain a consensus of participants on quantified objectives for the  different 
waste streams was only partially realised. Possible reasons for this include the lack of proper, 
EC-wide  statistics  both  in  quantities  and  in  quality  of  the  waste  in  question  and  its 
environmental  impact,  the  unbalanced  preparation  of  the  parties  to  consider  all  waste 
management  aspects and implications of the stream, the lack of or incomplete  methodology 
to evaluate the economic aspects which would allow to determine the environmental  benefits 
and  costs of the wastes, and the absence of  a mandate both to Member  States, industry  and 
NGO representatives to fully  negotiate, accept  and  agree on  certain  decisions. 

60  The general  conclusion of the priority  waste stream projects  is that they contributed to more 
insight  and  more  information  concerning  the  various  waste  streams  and  their  possible 
solutions,  including  better  product  design  and  production  processes.  However,  the  specific 
priority waste stream project  approach has not always been sufficiently  successful  to replace 
the  traditional  preparatory  stage  of  the  institutional  decision  making  process.  It  cannot  be 
neglected  that the merits of this approach  also involve considerable time  and  effort. 

61 In  view  of  the  above,  new  specific  projects  under  this  approach  will  not,  in  principle,  be 
initiated by the Commission, However, the Commission will examine other waste streams or 
material  flows  such as heavy  metals or  certain  organic  compounds on  a case by  case basis. 
For the existing projets  an  adequate follow-up  will  be  assured. 

3.4 

THE  SHIPMENT OF WASTE 

62  The  Community  has  equipped  itself  with  detailed  legislation  concerning  the  shipment  of 
wastes, by adopting Council Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 and ratifying the Basel Convention 
on  the  control  of  transboundary  movements  of  hazardous  waste  and  their  disposal. 
Furthermore, the Community  is currently  working  on the  integration  into EC  legislation  of 
the agreements on international  transport  of  dangerous goods, including  waste, set up under 
the  umbrella  of  the  UN  Recommendations  on  this  issue.  It  is  obvious,  though,  that 
considerable work will be needed in order to fine-tune the shipment of wastes within the EC 
on  the  one  hand  and  the  shipment  of  wastes  from  and  to  third  countries  on  the  other. 
Particular attention will need to be paid to ensure that countries that have applied to become 
members  of  the  EU  co-operate  fully  on  the  application  and  enforcement  of  EU  and 
international  rules applicable  to  shipment of waste. 

63  The principle  of  selfTSufficiency  has  already  been touched  upon. It  applies  only  to  disposal 
activities and aims in particular at ensuring that wastes are not exported to non-EC countries. 
Within  the  EC,  this  principle  also  aims  to  avoid  shipments  for  disposal  between  Member 
States.  It  largely  depends  on  Member  States,  if  and  to  what  extent  they  use  this  facility; 
generally, no further  regulatory interventions seem necessary  at this moment for this type of 
shipment  of wastes. 

14-

64  Wastes  which  are  shipped  for  recovery  operations  are,  as  indicated  above,  to  a large  extent 
submitted to the principles of the internal  market.  Member States are entitled to oppose  this 
kind of shipment under certain, specific  circumstances. The argument of ensuring the security 
of  waste  supply  to national  installations  cannot justify  the  refusal  to  authorise  shipments  for 
recovery.  However,  the environmentally  sound management  of waste for recovery  must also 
be  ensured.  To  this  end,  it  is  essential  mat  the  conditions  for  waste  treatment  are based  on 
the same strict standards throughout the Community.  Thus, a level  playing field  for recovery 
operations needs to be provided in order to avoid shipments to those parts of the Community 
where  lower  environmental  standards  entail  lower  treatment  costs.  Consequently,  the 
Commission  is  of  the  opinion  that  efforts  in  the  area  of  approximation  of  environmental 
standards should be increased  with the objective of establishing, where appropriate,  common 
environmental  standards  for  recovery  operations.  The  Commission  believes  that  the  above 
considerations  will  best  reconcile  environmental  arguments  with  the  rules  on  the  free 
circulation  of  goods. 

65  In  this  context,  the  Commission  notes  that there  is  at present  an ongoing  debate  within  the 
Community  as to  whether  wastes  that  are  destined  for  incineration  with  recovery  of  energy 
should  rather follow  the principles  of  free  circulation, or  whether Member  States  should  be 
allowed to generally  prohibit the shipment of wastes for such purposes. It is noted,  however, 
that further  restrictions  to  the  circulation  of  waste  for  recovery  may  require  a change  in the 
present  Community  legislation.  Furthermore,  particular  attention  will  have  to  be  paid  to  a 
proper  enforcement  of  the  provisions  on  the  shipment  of  waste,  in  order  to  further  reduce 
illegal  shipments  and  criminal  activities  related  to  these,  in  particular  as  regards  shipments 
from  one  country  to  another. 

66  As  regards  waste  exports,  the  EC  has  already  banned  exports  of  all  wastes  for  disposal  to 
other  countries,  except  to  EFTA-States  who  have  given  written  consent  to  their  specific 
import. Exports of hazardous waste for  recovery  to non-OECD countries  shall be phased out 
by  1998. This initiative follows  a  1995  decision taken in the context of the Third Conference 
of  the  Parties  of  the  Basel  Convention  on  the  shipment  of  hazardous  waste. 

67  Since  then  several  third  countries  voiced  concern  as  to  the  economic  and  trade  potential 
which  might  be  affected  by  such  a  decision.  For  that  reason,  and  in  particular  in  order  to 
avoid  confusion  of  exporters  and  importers  about  which  waste  will  actually  be  covered  by 
the  export  ban,  the  Basel  Convention  decided  to  adopt  in  1997  lists  of  wastes  which  are 
hazardous  and  wastes  which  are not  subject  to  the  Convention. 

68  It  remains  to  be  seen  to  what  extent  such  a list  will  find  the right balance  between  wastes 
which  may  be  shipped  under  control  requirements  and  hazardous  wastes,  which  shall  no 
longer be shipped from  industrialized to non-industrialized  countries.  The EC has interest in 
seeing trade in waste for recovery  not unduly hampered,  while particular care must be taken 
in  order  to  avoid  that  under  the  cover  of  "shipments  for  recovery"  hazardous  waste  is 
exported,  the handling  of  which  exceeds  the  capacity  of  non-OECD  countries. 

15 

4.  INSTRUMENTS 

4.1 

REGULATORY  INSTRUMENTS 

69  In  the  terminology  of  the  Court  of  Justice  waste  is  a  "good",  though  with  certain  specific 
characteristics. An internal market for goods/products, which may circulate freely  within the 
EC is hardly  conceivable without EC-wide rules which  regulate these products at the end of 
their useful  life-time. Therefore, EC-wide rules for waste will continue to be necessary. These 
rules  should take  account  of  the  economic  and  social  development  of  the  Community  as a 
whole and the balanced development of its regions. Since Member  States too have a genuine 
responsibility  to  protect  the  environment,  particular  care will  have to be taken  to  elaborate 
EC-wide  rules for  waste, which respect  the principle  of  subsidiarity  and ensure  at the same 
time  a high  level  of  environmental  protection  all  over  the  Community.  Equally,  emphasis 
should be given to the harmonised  application  of Community  rules in order to facilitate  the 
exchange  of  recoverable  waste.  This  will  encourage  a  competitive  European  recycling 
industry  able to progressively  develop  sounder  technologies. 

70  In the future,  the Community  and Member  States should set targets for the reduction or the 
recovery  of  wastes.  Targets  translate  key  principles  of  waste  policy  into  calculable 
obligations. They  allow for  the achievement  of  specific  objectives, for  instance on  recovery 
or recycling within a given time. They are not an end in themselves, but rather part of a more 
general  framework.  They  send  strong,  clear  and  reliable  messages  to  administrations  and 
economic operators, which may then design their own policy  with a view to achieving these 
targets. Decision to set targets are essentially political and need to be based on reliable, up-to-
date information  on both  environmental  and economic  aspects. They  should be reviewed  at 
regular intervals, in order to allow constant management of waste policies. It is for this reason 
that  Council  Directive  94/62/EC,  which  fixes,  for  the  first  time  at  EC-level,  targets  for 
recovery  of packaging  waste, provides for  a review mechanism  within  five years. 

71  Until  now  most  Community  and  national  instruments  to  orient  behaviour  as regards  waste 
have  consisted  in  the  adoption  of  regulatory  measures.  At  EC  level,  there  is  only  one 
recommendation on waste (Council Recommendation of 3 December  1981 concerning the re 
use  of  waste  paper  and  the  use  of  recycled  paper),  which  appeals  to  voluntary  action. 
Regrettably, this Recommendation is little known, hardly respected and has had scarce impact 
on  economic operators or consumers. 

72  Recently,  particular  interest  has  arisen  for  the  possible  use  of  agreements  between  public 
authorities and economic operators to achieve environmental objectives.  This possibility may 
be explored  also with  reference  to  the waste  sector. These  agreements  might be  considered 
either as a tool to implement certain objectives  established by EC legislation  or as EC-wide 
agreed  programmes  to  achieve  certain  targets.  Particular  attention  needs  to  be  paid  to 
conditions guaranteeing sufficient participation throughout the Community, dealing with  "free 
riders" and independent  monitoring  and  verification. 

16 

73  The Commission is interested in the potential of the conclusion of environmental agreements 
in the waste sector, provided that there are sufficient safeguards to ensure that tangible results 
are achieved. Such agreements may offer some advantage with regard to traditional forms of 
standard-setting, such as increased participation and integration of economic operators in the 
elaboration  of  the agreement,  increased  acceptability  of  the objectives  that are fixed, more 
flexible means of ensuring compliance and therefore, at the end of the day, better and quicker 
results for an improved protection of the environment. In the near future, the Commission will 
send a communication  to the Parliament and the Council on mis subject. 

4.2 

ECONOMIC INSTRUMENTS 

74  The  Fifth  Environment  Action  Programme  promotes  the  use  of  economic  instruments  in 
environmental policy. Economic instruments in the waste sector allow to reflect in the market 
price system  die  scarcity  of  environmental  resources  and the  external  costs  related  to the 
generation and management of waste.  Since economic operators take decisions on the basis 
of economic considerations, such a policy  can have the effect  of influencing producers' and 
consumers'  behaviour  and  direct  them  towards  adopting  more  environmentally  friendly 
attitudes. 

75  Economic instruments may take different forms, such as fiscal measures, financial  incentives 
or  deposit-refund  schemes  and  can  play  a  very  considerable  role  in  contributing  to  the 
achievement of the different objectives of the waste strategy. They can be used to encourage 
prevention  efforts  or to discourage the least desirable disposal  practices, to fill the cost gap 
between  recovery  and  disposal,  as  well  as  to  avoid  that  the  negative  consequences  of 
environmentally  unfriendly  treatment  and  disposal  practices  are  born  by  the  society  as a 
whole, in contradiction with the polluter^pays-principle. 

76  In the waste sector economic instruments have, until now, only exceptionally and in general 
terms been promoted by Community directives. National experience shows, though, that they 
may be useful tools to influence behaviours of economic operators or consumers; for instance, 
policies  favouring  refundable  deposits help to  ensure that products  are,  at the  end of their 
useful  life-time,  effectively  taken back  and then directed towards the appropriate recovery, 
treatment or final disposal  installation. The Commission  will  endeavour to promote the use 
of economic instruments in the waste sector, though it remains obvious, mat many economic 
instruments  -  in  particular  charges  and  levies,  fiscal  incentives  or  disincentives  or  State 
funding  - will first of  all be used at the level  of Member States. 

77  It is obvious, though, that the use of the above instruments  at national  level  might have an 
impact  on  the  internal  market  since  economic  measures  could  have  a  similar  impact  on 
commercial transactions as technical measures. Until the need for concerted action at EC level 
becomes  generally  accepted,  common  guidelines  could  be  an  effective  tool  to  ensure  a 
coherent use of such instruments by Member States while fully preserving the functioning of 
the internal  market and avoiding  distortions to competition. 

17 

78  Community  funding  for environmental  waste measures - in the form of assistance  from the 
structural funds, the Cohesion Fund, or the environmental  fund LIFE - constitute a relatively 
small financial  complement to funding by Member States in this sector. More initiatives that 
promote clean technologies for products, recycling possibilities for different forms of waste, 
clean-up means for contaminated sites and other demonstration or pilot projects are desirable. 
However, the success of such efforts also depends on the support of economic operators who 
are invited to make further contributions to a modern waste management policy. 

79  In  1983, the Commission suggested EC-wide rules on liability for damage caused by waste. 
The Council could not agree to that proposal  and declared that it would decide on a liability 
scheme for waste, based on a new proposal from the Commission, before the end 1987. The 
proposal  was  submitted  in  1989,  but  never  really  discussed  by  the  Council.  In  1993  the 
Commission presented a green paper on environmental liability which was no longer limited 
to damage caused by  waste but included  all environmental  sectors. In view of this broader 
approach, the Commission does not intend, at present, to pursue its efforts in the waste sector 
alone, though it remains convinced that liability provisions are of paramount importance for 
an effective  protection of the environment. 

4.3 

WASTE  STATISTICS 

80  Waste  statistics  constitute  an  important  instrument  of  management.  Information  based on 
reliable data allows on the one hand the formulation  of realistic objectives, and on the other 
the assessment of the current situation, in particular as far as the achievement of objectives 
is concerned. 

81  At present, only  a limited set of  waste  statistics  is reported on a voluntary  basis to the EC 
Statistical  Office  (Eurostat)  via  the joint  Eurostat-OECD  questionnaire,  which  is  sent  to 
Member  States  every  two  years  (1990,  1992,  1994,  1996  ...).  In  response  to  the  latest 
questionnaire for which data have been processed (1994), most Member States were able to 
provide  data up to  1992,  1993  or  1994.  The national  data are based  on  a combination  of 
regular surveys, ad hoc  surveys and administrative  data linked to waste  regulations.  These 
data are not harmonised between Member States and there are important differences  in the 
coverage, level  of detail and accuracy  of the data between countries. 

-  18 

82  For the most recent available figures (1990), the following  overview  can be given.  Data on 
all  15  Member  States  is  available  only  for  the  manufacturing  industry  and for  municipal 
waste. Data on agricultural waste must be excluded since the figures are based on particularly 
disparate definitions.  For these reasons, it is not permissible  to add the figures to a total  for 
all  wastes  produced  in  EU15.  In  order  of  decreasing  importance,  the  following  sectors 
contributed to total  waste  amounts (in  million  tonnes)  in  1990:  352  mining  and quarrying 
waste, 336 manufacturing waste,  132 municipal waste, 57 energy production waste, 33 from 
other economic  sectors,  and 22  hazardous  waste  all  sectors.  A  breakdown  by  disposal  and 
recovery  operations  shows that in  1990, 68% of  municipal  waste  was  landfilled,  18% was 
incinerated, 5% composted and only 2% recycled. The amount of hazardous waste represents 
2.4% of the total amount of  waste,  10% of which is classified  as waste oils,  7% as clinical 
and pharmaceutical  waste, 4% under the term organic solvents and another 4% under resins 
and latex. The generating  source of the remaining hazardous waste is heterogeneous. 

83  The most serious problems  as regards statistics  are, firstly,  the non-harmonisation  of  their scope, 
and,  secondly,  the  different  definitions  and  classifications  systems  used  in  Member  States.  The 
European Waste Catalogue was adopted end  1993 and a Community-wide  list of hazardous waste 
end  1994.  In addition,  since  1990,  the  Commission  has carried out a series of  studies  aiming at 
preparing  a  Community  system  for  regular,  harmonised  waste  statistics.  The  Commission  will 
examine the appropriate instruments to be used with a view to establishing  a regular flow  of data 
on waste generation  and disposal  by firms and households.  The resulting  system  should produce 
comparable statistics of reasonable quality at a total cost which is not much greater than the present 
set of  uncoordinated national  waste  statistics.  Eurostat, together  with  the European Environment 
Agency, will continue to work towards a system ôf waste statistics which provides the information 
needed for policy  at the lowest public  and private cost.  Active co-operation  from Member States 
is indispensable to support these  efforts. 

4.4 

OTHER  MANAGEMENT INSTRUMENTS 

4.4.1 

Implementation, enforcement a^d monitoring of existing  provisions 

84  There  are  considerable  EC-wide  provisions  on  waste  which  have  been  elaborated  over  the past 
twenty years. Within the years to come particular care will  be taken to ensure that existing waste 
rules are completely and effectively  applied and to ensure that they can be applied without creating 
inconsistency  within  the  provisions  of  EC  legislation  on  waste  nor  with  other  Community 
legislation.  Indeed nothing  affects  the  credibility  of  any  waste policy  more than the  adoption  of 
rules which are not respected. The Commission will therefore make sure that sufficient transparency 
on compliance issues is achieved. 

19-

85  This includes the publication of implementation reports on the different  directives on waste. Though 
such reports should have been published regularly  since  1978, no report on a specific  directive has 
yet been published. The Commission will improve this situation and publish reports urging Member 
States to submit information on their national situation. The concentration of harmonized  definitions 
and waste lists  and  their permanent  updating  and the  availability  of  good  and reliable  data on  all 
aspects of  waste management  will  contribute to  make EC waste policy  and law more transparent. 

86  The different  waste management  measures adopted  at Community  level  are to be implemented by 
Member  States.  The  Commission  must  ensure  that  the  Community  provisions  are  applied. 
Furthermore, the Commission  will have to ensure that national  waste management policies do not 
impinge on general Community  objectives such as the functioning  of the internal market for goods 
and services or  a system  of  undistorted  competition.  The  main  tools  available to the  Commission 
in this context are die monitoring of existing EC provisions through committees and the publication 
of  regular  reports on  the implementation  of  existing  legislation. 

4.4.2  Management plans 

87  Since 1975 EC directives require Member  States to elaborate waste management plans. In the past, 
Member States were reluctant to meet this obligation. Even today, it is rather exceptional that up-to-
date  waste  management  plans  exist  for  a  specific  Member  State  which  cover  the  whole  of  the 
territory  of  that  Member  State.  Where  such  plans  have  been  drawn  up, they  sometimes  take  the 
form  of  strategy  papers  which  determine  a  waste  policy,  or  of  operational  plans  which  address 
details. The Commission  will intensify  its efforts  to see that these management plans be drawn up 
in  all  Member  States,  that  they  contain  all  elements  that  are  required  under  the  Community 
provisions and that they are used and regularly updated. Where necessary, the Commission will take 
initiatives  to  develop  these  plans  into  a  waste  management  tool  in  order  to  attain  waste  policy 
objectives.  With  reference  to Central  and Eastern Europe, the Commission's Phare Programme is 
assisting with the development of waste management strategies of a number of applicant countries. 
These efforts  will be further  strenghtened and, where relevant, extended to other applicant countries. 

4.43  Committees 

88  Community  waste policy  does not  consist only  of  legislative  instruments  such  as regulations  and 
directives.  Since  this  policy  implies  a  regular  monitoring  of  legal,  economical  and  political 
developments  within  and  - more  and more - outside the Community,  several  committees  were set 
up  at  Community  level  to  promote  integrated  waste  management  at  Community  level.  The 
theoretical  work  division  among the different  committees is clear:  while  a number  of  committees 
have the task to adapt the waste legislation  to technical  and scientific  progress, the waste manage 
ment committee  advises the Commission  on matters of  waste policy  or management; the  industry 
and NGO committees help to liaise with  economic operators  and  environmental  organisations. 

- 2 0-

89  In  practice,  the representativeness  of  these  committees  could  be  considerably  improved.  It  seems 
that  the necessity  to conceive, elaborate and  implement  an integrated  waste management  policy  at 
EC level, which pursues the objective  of  attaining a high level of  environmental  protection  within 
the internal  market, has not been perceived  everywhere. This leads to omissions in  communication 
which, at a later stage, increase the difficulties  in finding EC-wide  solutions. 

90  The Commission is convinced that improvements in communication within the different  committees 
are  necessary  and  possible  and  will  try  to  improve  the  impact  and  the  performance  of  these 
committees. 

4.4.5  Life-cycle  analyses, eco-balances 

91  The  hierarchy  of  priorities  in  the  field  of  the  waste  management  -  prevention,  recovery,  final 
disposal  -  is  generally  accepted.  In  this  context,  it  might  be  appropriate  to  evaluate  the 
environmental  impact  of  a  product  during  all  its  life  cycle  in  order  to  identify  the  best 
environmental  waste management  solution  by  using the  "cradle-to-grave"  approaches.  In this type 
of integrated  system  the  design  and production  stages  constitute  a central  moment  since they  will 
determine the general  impact  of  a product  or of  an  activity  on the  environment. 

92  Eco-balances  of  waste  management,  used  at  the  same  time  as  the  analysis  of  the  life  cycle  of  a 
product, have a considerable potential for the evaluation and the exploration of alternatives of waste 
management  and  can  contribute  appreciably  to  reduce  the  impact  of  these  products  and  of  their 
waste on the  environment. 

93  Council  Directive  94/62/EC  on  packaging  and  packaging  waste  includes  a  recital  indicating  that 
life-cycle  analysis  should  be  completed  as  soon  as  possible  in  order  to  better  evaluate  priorities 
between reusable, recyclable  and recoverable packaging. It stipulates that the European  Parliament 
and  the  Council  will  have to  examine  the  results  of  scientific  research  and  evaluation  techniques 
such  as  eco-balances.  The  approach  of  the  priority  waste  streams  also  takes  these  evaluation 
instruments  as a central  element. 

94  Lastly,  these  instruments  can  contribute  to  improving  implementation  of  waste  management 
priorities. The potential  of these evaluation techniques is still to be developed but it is particularly 
promising. The Commission Will promote their development and will take care that they are applied 
in  an impartial  way. 

21 

5.  ACTORS 

95  The Fifth  Environment Action Programme  recognizes the need for  an active role of all  economic 
operators involved in the pursuit of sustainable development. Indeed, the above objectives  can not 
be  achieved  without  the  participation  of  public  authorities,  private  and  public  companies, 
environmental  organizations  and, in particular,  individuals  as citizens  and consumers. 

96  With  this  Communication  the  Commission  appeals  to  Community,  national,  regional  and  local 
authorities  to  display  the  necessary  political  will  and  provide  the  appropriate  resources  for  the 
establishment  of  a  sound  waste  management  policy.  Local  and  regional  environment  and  energy 
agencies  can  also  play  an  important  role  in  this  respect.  It  is  fundamental  that  the  waste 
management  plans are set up  and  effectively  implemented. 

97  Taking into account the key role of industry in waste management, it should, together with all other 
operators concerned, fully  assume its responsibility  in waste reduction  and recovery. Its particular 
contribution  should focus, inter alia, on the development of clean technologies and products as well 
as on active participation  in waste management. It needs to be recognised that small  and medium-
size  enterprises, both  producers  and  economic  operators  in  the  retail  and  distribution  sector,  can 
effectively  contribute to the waste management objectives, provided that they are given appropriate 
assistance to achieve this aim and are not overburdened  with excessive administrative obligations. 

98  Waste  concerns  all  citizens.  Indeed,  they  are  more  and  more  concerned  with  the  environmental 
dimension  of  modern  society.  They  strongly  contribute  to  the  success  of  recycling  and  re-use 
programmes, particularly  by sorting the waste at the source, thus taking their part of responsibility 
in  the  waste management.  This  calls for  appropriate  and wide-spread  information  to be provided 
by  economic operators  and public  authorities. 

- 2 2-

6. CONCLUSIONS 

99  Waste  management  policy  is one  of the key  sectors  identified  by  the Fifth  Environment  Action 
Programme whose primary  goal is the achievement of sustainable development. The Community 
strategy for waste management establishes the guidelines for the Community waste policy, namely, 
priority  to  prevention,  promotion  of  recovery,  minimization  of  final  disposal  and  regulation  of 
waste  shipments.  Future  Community  actions  will  have  to  concentrate  on  appropriate t 
implementation  and  enforcement  of  existing  legislation, promotion  and  use of  a broad  range of 
non-legislative  instruments  and  exploration  of  other  fields  for  actions  such  as  promotion  of 
markets for  recycled  products, minimization  and prevention  of  specific  waste  streams, etc.. 

100  The  principles  and  guidelines  presented  above  are  intended  to  serve  as  basis  for  both  future 
Community  actions  in  the  waste  sector  and  the  establishment  of  environmentally  sound 
management strategies throughout the European Union. Their effective implementation will require 
the full  involvement and support of  all  concerned parties. 

- 2 3-

DRAFT 

COUNCIL RESOLUTION 

on waste policy 

- &-

COUNCIL RESOLUTION 

on waste policy 

THE COUNCIL  OF THE  EUROPEAN  UNION, 

Having  regard  to the Treaty  establishing  the European  Community, 

Having  regard  to  the  resolution  of  the  Council  and  the  Representatives  of  the 
governments of  the Member  States, meeting  within the Council, of  1 February  1993 on 
a  Community  programme  of  policy  and  action  in  relation  to  the  environment  and 
sustainable  development  (fifth  Environment  Action  Programme)1, 

Having  regard  to  the  Commission  communication  to  the  Council  and  to  the  European 
Parliament on a Community  strategy  for  waste management of  18 September  19892, and 
to  the review of this  strategy  of 

3 , 

Having regard to the Council Resolution of 7 May  1990 on waste policy4 and resolutions 
of  19 February  1991 and 22 April  1994 of the European Parliament  in relation thereto5, 

Having  regard  to  the existing  Community  legislation  in the  field  of waste  management, 
in  particular  Council  Directive  75/442/EEC  of  15  July  on  waste6,  as  amended  by 
Directive  91/156/EEC7,  Council  Directive  91/689/EEC  of  12  December  1991  on 
hazardous  waste8,  Council  Regulation  (EEC)  No  259/93  of  1 February  1993  on  the 
supervision  and  control  of  shipments  of  waste  within,  into  and  out  of  the  European 
Community9,  and  Council  Decision  of  1 February  1993 on the conclusion,  on behalf  of 
the  Community,  of  the  Convention  on  the  control  of  transboundary  movements  of 
hazardous  waste  and  their  disposal  (Basel  Convention)10, 

O J N oC  138,  17,05.1993, p. 1 
SEC(89)  934 final  of  18.09.1989 
COM(96)  ... final  of..  ..  1996 
O J N oC  122,  18.05.1990, p. 2 
OJ No C 72,  18.03.1991, p. 34 and OJ No C  128, 09.05.1994, p. 471 
OJ No L  194, 25.07.1975, p. 39 
OJ No L  78, 26.03.1991, p. 32 
OJ No L 377, 31.12.1991, p. 20 
O J N o L 3 0,  06.02.1993, p. 1 
OJ No L 39,  16.02.1993, p. 1 

10 

- < * 5-

Having regard to the Commission  Report to the Council  and to the European  Parliament 
on  waste management  policy  of  8 November  1995", 

Whereas the Community shall aim at establishing a coherent and generally accepted waste 
management  policy,  ecologically  rational  and  economically  viable  with  a  view  to 
promoting  sustainable  development;  whereas this policy  shall be based  on  a harmonized 
terminology  as  regards  waste  definitions  and  classifications,  as well  as on  the  common 
principles  of  priority  for  prevention,  promotion  of  recovery,  environmentally  sound 
disposal  of  waste  and  control  and  minimisation  of  waste  shipments; 

Whereas this policy shall provide for a high level of environmental protection  throughout 
the  European  Union  as  well  as  for  the  functioning  of  the  internal  market,  where 
appropriate  with  respect  to transboundary  transactions with waste;  whereas  this  twofold 
objective cannot be achieved without the appropriate implementation  of the principles of 
proximity  and  self-sufficiency;  whereas  these  principles  mean  that  waste  destined  for 
disposal, must be disposed of in one of the nearest appropriate installation  and that waste 
which is generated  within  the Community  should not be disposed of elsewhere; whereas 
there  is  a  need  to  establish  a  Community-wide  integrated  and  adequate  network  of 
disposal  and  treatment  installations; 

Whereas  a  whole  range  of  legislative,  economic  and  management  instruments  shall  be 
efficiently  used  at  all  local,  regional,  national  and  Community  levels  in  order  to  solve 
waste related problems;  whereas particular  attention  shall be paid to the  implementation 
and  enforcement  of  existing  legislation, the adoption  and  appropriate  implementation  of 
the  waste management  plans and the  development  of  Community  waste statistics; 

1.  Welcomes  and  supports  the  Commission  Communication  on  the  Review  of  the 
Community  Strategy  for  Waste  Management  and  considers  it  a  valid  guideline  for 
actions to be undertaken  within the next years throughout the European Union  in the 
waste  sector; 

2.  Considers  that,  since  the  adoption  of  the  first  Community  strategy  for  waste 
management  in  September  1989,  institutional,  legislative,  economic  and  technical 
progress has  taken  place  in  the  waste area  and  influenced  national  and  Community 
administration  as well  as economic operators  and  consumers; 

3.  Recognizes that, despite the considerable efforts  made during the last few years, waste 

generation  has on  average  continued  to grow; 

4.  Notes  and  shares  the  increasing  concern  of  the population  as  regards  waste-related 

problems throughout the European Union; 

COM(95) 522 final of  08.11.1995 

- *-

5.  Emphasizes the important role that statistics  can play  while identifying  waste-related 
problems,  assessing  management  priorities  and  formulating  and  achieving  realistic 
objectives  within  the  framework  of  waste  management  policies; 

regrets the  fact  that,  at present,  neither  regular  nor  harmonized  waste-related  data  is 
produced  at  Community  level; 

urges  the  Commission  to  establish,  in  cooperation  with  the  European  Environment 
Agency  and Member  States, a Community-wide  reliable system of  data collection  for 
waste, which should be based  on common terminology, definitions  and  classifications 
as  well  as  on  a  harmonized  methodology,  taking  into  consideration  the  special 
concerns  and  difficulties  that  small  and  medium-size  enterprises  may  have  in  this 
regard; 

6.  Considers  that  any  strategy  for  waste  management  should  be  guided  by  considering 
the  best  environmental  solution  which  should  take  into  consideration  the  potential 
benefits  and  costs  of  action  or lack  of  action  for  the  environment; 

considers  that  waste  management  solutions  should  be  fully  taken  into  consideration 
from  the  conception  phase  of  a product; 

believes  that, without  prejudice of the  polluter pays principle, which  should be  fully 
applied,  the  producer  of  a  product  bears  specific  responsibilities  within  the  waste 
management  chain; 

invites 
responsibilities  are translated  into  practical  actions; 

the  Commission 

to  submit  to  the  Council  proposals  where 

these 

7.  Reiterates  its  conviction  that  waste  prevention  should  be  the  first  priority  of  any 
rational  waste  policy,  as  regards  the  generation  of  waste  and,  where  appropriate,  as 
regards  the hazardous  character  of  such  waste; 

considers  that  efforts  made  in  this  respect  need  to  be  increased; 

invites  Member  States  and  economic  operators  to  fix  quantitative  targets  for  waste 
prevention  and to  pursue  this  goal,  particularly  by  promoting  clean  technologies  and 
products  which  can  be  recovered,  by  improving  the  environmental  dimension  of 
technical  standards, by reducing the presence of dangerous substances in products, by 
using  economic  instruments  and  eco-audit  schemes  and  by  promoting  changes  in 
consumption  patterns  by  means  of  consumer  information  and  education; 

8.  Insists on the need for promoting waste recovery  with a view to reducing the quantity 
of  waste  and  saving  natural  resources,  in particular  by  reuse,  recycling,  composting 
and recovering  energy  from  waste; 

believes  that,-at  present  and  until  scientific  and  technological  progress  is  made  and 
life  cycle  analyses  are  further  developed,  as  regards  recovery  operations,  reuse  and 
material  recovery,  when  environmentally  sound,  should  in  general  be  considered 
preferable  in  terms  of  environmental  impact  over  other  forms  of  recovery  and  final 
disposal; 

- J t >-

calls on the Commission to promote the elaboration of a Community  methodology  for 
life  cycle  analyses  and ecobalances which  is  scientifically  sound in order to  improve 
the  identification  of  future  waste  management  priorities; 

calls  on  Member  States  to  promote  return,  collection  and  recovery  systems; 

requests  the Commission  and Member  States to take  concrete  actions  with  a view to 
promote  markets  for  recycled  products  that  comply  with  Community  requirements, 
in particular  as  regards  safety,  health  and  environmental  protection; 

9.  Underlines  the  need  for  Community  standards  for  waste  treatment  operations, 
particularly  energy  recovery  operations,  in order  to  provide  for  a level  playing  field 
in  the  waste  sector  and  thus  to  ensure  a  high  level  of  environmental  protection 
throughout the Community  while respecting the rules of the internal market as regards 
waste  destined  for  recovery,  and  in  this  respect 

identifies  the  importance  of  standards  concerning  the  use  of  waste,  in particular  as a 
fuel  or other  source  of  energy; 

is  of  the  opinion  that,  as  long  as  the  input  material  and  process  is  comparable, 
emission  standards  for  the  incineration  of  waste  should  be the  same,  whether  waste 
is  burnt  in  incineration  installations  or other  installations; 

10.  Draws  attention  to  the  need  for  minimizing  waste  disposal  and thus  establishing  an 
adequate  and  integrated  network  of  disposal  facilities,  as  foreseen  by  Directive 
91/156/EEC  on  waste; 

concludes  that  Community  standards  on  air,  water  and  soil  emissions  coming  from 
incineration  installations  should be strictly  respected; as regards existing  incineration 
plants, particular monitoring  measures  should be envisaged;  adequate  information  of 
the  concerned  population  needs  to  be  provided;  and  incineration  operations  not 
entailing  recovery  of  energy  should  if  possible  be  avoided; 

11.  Considers  that,  in  the  future,  only  safe  and  controlled  landfill  activities  complying 
with  the  requirements  of  the  future  directive  on  landfill  should  be  carried  out 
throughout  the  Community; 

requests the Member  States to take the necessary  measures  in order to ensure proper 
rehabilitation  of  old  landfill  and  contaminated  sites; 

12.  Takes  note  of  the  conclusions  drawn  up  by  the  different  project  groups  within  the 
framework  of  the priority  waste streams programme  initiated by  the Commission  on 
end-of-life  vehicles,  used  tyres, healthcare  waste,  demolition  and construction  waste 
and  waste  from  electrical  and  electronic  equipment,  and in  this  regard 

invites  the  Commission  to  come  forward  as  soon  as possible  with  proposals  to  give 
the  appropriate  follow-up  to  these  projects; 

-ix-

invites the Commission t0  further explore whether and how other waste streams, such 
as  heavy  metals,  plastic,  textiles  or  waste  from  ships,  should  be  dealt  with  at 
Community level; 

13.  Believes that Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 is an important legal instrument to control 

and minimize waste shipments; 

calls on the Member States to increase and improve cooperation, in particular in the 
field of  illegal  shipments  and the fight against environmental crime; 

reiterates its  commitment  taken  in the  context  of the Basel  Convention  to prohibit, 
in addition to the  already  existing  prohibition  of  shipments  of  hazardous  waste  for 
final disposal, shipments of hazardous waste for recovery to developing countries, and 
thus 

invites  the  Commission  to  present  a  proposal  for  ratification  of  the  relevant 
amendment to the Basel  Convention; 

14.  Invites  the  Commission  to  ensure  that  existing  and  future  legislation  is  fully 
implemented by Member States and enforced throughout the European Union; 

15.  Emphasizes  the  importance  of  appropriate  waste  management  planning  at  all 

competent levels; 

urges Member States, where they have not yet  done so, to establish, forward  to the 
Commission  and  implement  waste  management  plans,  as  requested  by  Directive 
91/156/EEC on waste; 

16.  Encourages Member States to use a broad range of instruments, particularly economic 
in  the  most 

instruments,  with  a  view  to  achieving  their  waste  policy  objectives, 
coherent way  and in full  respect of  the provisions of the EC Treaty; 

17.  Recognizes,  in line  with  the  Commission  White  Paper on  growth,  competitiveness 
and  employment,  the  potential  that  the  protection  of  the  environment,  and  in 
particular a coherent and sound waste management policy,  may have as regards job 
creation, and therefore 

calls on Member States to orientate their waste management policies in the direction 
of  activating these potentialities; 

recognizes  the  need  to  institute  support  measures  for  small  and  medium-size 
enterprises in order to encourage responsible  waste management policies; 

18.  Invites the Commission  to report to the Council  on the progress  made in the areas 

covered by this Resolution  at the latest by the end of 2000; 

- t t-

"•""•""•B"TSSIW25^i475 

COM(96) 399  final 

DOCUMENTS 

EN 

14 

Catalogue number  :  CB-CO-96-426-EN-C 

ISBN 92-78-07986-3 

Office for Official Publications of the European Communities 

L-2985 Luxembourg 

-  lv-