Opinion of the Commission pursuant to Article 251(2) (c) of the EC Treaty, on the European Parliament's amendments to the Council's common position regarding the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the incineration of waste, amending the proposal of the Commission pursuant to Article 250(2) of the EC Treaty
Date: 2000-07-06
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: air quality, dangerous substance, prevention of pollution, waste incineration, waste management

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 06.07.2000
COM(2000) 280 final

1998/0289 (COD)

OPINION OF THE COMMISSION

pursuant to Article 251 (2) (c) of the EC Treaty, on the European Parliament's
amendments to the Council's common position regarding the
proposal for a

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
on the incineration of waste

AMENDING THE PROPOSAL OF THE COMMISSION
pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC Treaty

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

Article 251, paragraph 2, letter c) of the Treaty establishing the European Community
establishes that the Commission gives an opinion on the amendments proposed by the
European Parliament in the second reading.

The Commission hereafter gives its opinion on the sixteen amendments proposed by the
European Parliament.

1.

Background

Transmission of the Proposal to the Council and the European
Parliament

29 October 1998

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee

25 February 1999

Opinion of Committee of the Regions

Opinion of the European Parliament – first reading

10 March 1999

14 April 1999

Amended Proposal of the Commission (COM (1999) 330 final)

12 July 1999

Adoption of the Common Position

Opinion of the Commission on the Common Position
(SEC (1999) 1971 final)

25 November 1999

30 November 1999

In this last document (SEC (1999) 1971 final), the Commission considered the Common
Position in line with the amended Proposal of the Commission (COM (1999) 330 final) and,
as a consequence, the Commission supports the Common Position.

2.

Objective of the Commission Proposal

The Amended Proposal on the incineration of waste (COM (99)330) seeks to replace the three
existing Directives 89/369, 89/429 and 94/67 on the incineration of municipal waste and
hazardous waste and to extend the scope of Community legislation on incineration.

The proposed Directive will contribute to the protection of human health and the environment
as required by Article 174 and Article 152 of the Treaty.

It seeks to integrate the technical progress that has been made in the control of incineration
processes and to extend the scope of existing Community measures to combat the pollution of
air, water and land caused by the incineration and co-incineration of waste. The aim is to
prevent harmful effects on the environment and human health. The key objectives therefore
are to:

– reduce substantially emissions of several key pollutants to air and control releases to water

and land;

– provide a major contribution to the achievement of the Fifth Environment Action
Programme. The target is to reduce emissions of dioxins and furans from known sources
by 90% between 1985 and 2005, with the specific objective of introducing standards for
dioxin and furan emissions for waste incineration;

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– contribute to a reduction in releases of heavy metals. This is in accordance with the Fifth
Environment Action Programme’s objective of eliminating the exceeding of critical loads
and levels;

– provide a coherent methodology for the regulation and operation of non-hazardous waste

incineration and co-incineration.

3.

Commission opinion on the Parliament's amendments

16 amendments have been adopted by the Parliament. The Commission can accept six
amendments in full (6, 8, 9, 10, 17 and 22), two in part (11 and 25) and one in principle (4).
The remaining amendments (1, 2, 3, 5, 13, 15, and 20) cannot be accepted.

3.1.

Amendments accepted by the Commission

Amendment 4 changes the scope of the future Directive. The EP proposes excluding certain
fibrous vegetable waste from the paper and pulp industry from its scope. This is in line with
the intention of the Commission to exclude certain clean biomass to support the use of
alternative sources of energy. The rewording of the exclusions for waste from the food
processing industry and for wood waste is acceptable. The replacing of number (v) by
“radioactive waste” is also acceptable in principle. It serves the objective of precise and
understandable Community legislation. The common position text could, however, give rise
to confusion, in particular in relation to incineration of animal waste.

Amendment 6 adds some examples for heat recovery to the text. Amendment 8 introduces a
new paragraph, which makes it clear that competent authorities must take action to enforce
compliance with the permit
strengthening the
requirements for delivery and reception of waste. In fact the removal of some words does not
change the standards in this respect. The last sentence in that paragraph indicates that in any
case the requirements of paragraph 3 and 4 must be complied with. Amendment 10 allows for
the subtraction of “elemental carbon” for the calculation of “total organic carbon”. This is
justified from a scientific point of view. All amendments are acceptable to the Commission.

if necessary. Amendment 9 aims at

The second element of amendment 11 makes it clear that for some hazardous waste the
retention time at 1,100°C is 2 seconds. This clarification is acceptable to the Commission.

Amendment 17 corrects a mistake in the common position text and is therefore acceptable to
the Commission.

Amendment 22 adds annexes II, IV and V to the list of annexes, which can be changed by the
committee procedure. This is in line with the Commission amended proposal and therefore
acceptable to the Commission.

The first part of amendment 25 adds a new emission limit value for NOx of 500 mg for new
cement kilns co-incinerating waste. This figure is in line with the cost-benefit evaluation done
for the Commission and is therefore acceptable to the Commission.

3.2.

Amendments not accepted by the Commission

Amendments 1 and 2, which seek to include waste management elements, cannot be accepted
for reasons of principle. The objective of the Commission Proposal is to provide emission
limit values and operational conditions for all waste that is incinerated or co-incinerated and
not to interfere with waste management legislation.

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Amendment 3 cannot be accepted for reasons of principle. It
Directive will apply without prejudice to other legislation.

is obvious that the draft

Amendments 5 and 15, which seek to introduce links with air and water quality standards,
cannot be accepted. There is already other legislation to that effect in place or in preparation,
such as the Air Quality Directives, the IPPC Directive and the proposed Water Framework
Directive. The proposed amendments would only serve to duplicate or compromise the clarity
of this legislation.

The first part of amendment 11, which removes the word “hazardous” seeks to provide for
higher combustion temperatures for non-hazardous waste. This higher temperature of 1,100°C
is scientifically not justified. The proposed figure of 850°C, together with other relevant
combustion conditions such as retention time, is sufficient to destroy all organic pollutants -
in particular dioxin precursors.

Amendment 13 is not acceptable to the Commission. It
hazardous waste which does not exist in waste legislation.

introduces an interpretation of

Amendment 20 is not acceptable to the Commission. The current wording of the draft
Directive in Article 12, which deals with access to information and public participation, is
sufficient to provide the necessary information to all actors.

The second part of amendment 25 which reduces the extra transition period provided for in
annex II for certain cement kilns by one year is not acceptable to the Commission. This
reduction would remove the delicate balance achieved in the common position.

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