WRITTEN QUESTION P-2031/03 by Antonios Trakatellis (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Implementation of Community legislation on solid waste and the landfill of waste in Greece.
Date: 2003-06-12
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing, Greece, application of EU law, environmental protection, storage of waste, waste management, waste recycling

27.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 78 E/67

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(30 July 2003)

The Commission is aware of the issues raised by the Honourable Members.

The Community is a Contracting Party to the Oslo-Paris (OSPAR) Convention and is represented at OSPAR
meetings by the Commission. The central objective of the strategies adopted by the OSPAR Commission to
advance its work,
is the protection of the OSPAR maritime area. One of these strategies concerns
radioactive substances and has the specific objective that by the year 2020 discharges, emissions and losses
of radioactive substances are reduced to levels where the additional concentrations in the marine
environment above historic levels, resulting from such discharges, emissions and losses, are close to zero.

The OSPAR Commission is assisted in the implementation of the strategy with regard to radioactive
substances by its Radioactive Substances Committee (RSC), which meets at
least once a year. The
Commission is an active participant in this Committee contributing significantly to the understanding and
awareness of the discharge of radioactive substances from all sources into the maritime area. As part of
this contribution, the Commission recently completed a study known as Marína II, which examined all
radioactive discharges and their effects on the OSPAR maritime area including effects on biota, consumers
of seafood and individuals engaged in fishing in the proximity of such discharges.

The Commission is firmly committed to the attainment of the objective of the OSPAR strategy with regard
to radioactive substances, which requires the progressive and substantial reduction of all radioactive
discharges by 2020. At the first ministerial meeting of the OSPAR Commission in Sintra, July 1998, the
concern of a number of contracting parties about technetium-99 discharges from Sellafield was noted, and
the United Kingdom ministers indicated that such concerns would be addressed. These concerns were
emphasised again at the recent OSPAR ministerial meeting in Bremen in June 2003. Furthermore, the
initiative of the United Kingdom to request the operator of Sellafield to stop discharges from its medium
active concentrate (MAC) treatment process for nine months while further research and development of
abatement technology is carried out was welcomed.

It should, nevertheless, be noted that while activity concentrations of technetium-99 are relatively high, the
is small compared to other
radiological
radionuclides, including naturally occurring radionuclides.

technetium-99 discharges to the environment

impact of

(2004/C 78 E/0067)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2031/03

by Antonios Trakatellis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(12 June 2003)

Subject: Implementation of Community legislation on solid waste and the landfill of waste in Greece

A study carried out by the National Centre for the Environment states that over 90 % of urban waste is
disposed of in landfill sites (legal or otherwise), while a mere 8 % is recycled and 1 % composted. However,
it is reported that the mechanical waste sorting unit is not only not functioning, it also fails to meet EU
specifications and is technologically outdated compared to the optimum available technology.

Given that the Commission has initiated proceedings against Greece for failing to comply with the waste
directives (cid:1) in particular Directive 75/442/EEC (1) on waste (cid:1) and that all EU Member States are obliged,
on the basis of Directive 1999/31/EC (2) on the landfill of waste, to draw up a national strategy and to

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Official Journal of the European Union

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27.3.2004

notify the Commission thereof by 16 July 2003 at the latest and to take specific measures in respect of
existing landfill sites, will the Commission say:

1. Has Greece complied with Community legislation on waste, in particular on solid waste, and what
the environment and public health from the

measures has the Commission taken to protect
uncontrolled dumping of hazardous and other waste in Greece?

2. How does it judge the operation of the mechanical waste sorting unit in Liossia, according to
the best available technology, and what amount of

environmental criteria and in the light of
Community resources has been used for the construction of this plant which is not functioning?

3. Has Greece announced a national strategy for the landfill of waste and in respect of how many of the
existing landfill sites has a waste disposal plan been drawn up and adopted, including gas control and
collection measures, measures in respect of hazardous waste and measures to reduce biodegradable
urban waste intended for landfill, particularly through recycling, composting and biogas production or
materials/energy recovery, as laid down in Directive 1999/31/EC?

(1) OJ L 194, 25.7.1975, p. 39.
(2) OJ L 182, 16.7.1999, p. 1.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(10 July 2003)

The Commission is aware of the problem of the uncontrolled disposal of waste in Greece. On the
1.
basis of information transmitted by the Greek authorities and following a large number of complaints, the
Commission initiated infringement proceedings under Article 226 of the EC Treaty in July 2002. The
Greek authorities acknowledged that 1399 illegal or uncontrolled landfills were still operating at the end of
2002 and said that a new waste management plan was about to be adopted. According to their timetable,
all illegal landfills will be closed by the end of 2007 and replaced by permanent facilities. In December
2002 the Commission delivered a reasoned opinion under Article 226 of the EC Treaty inviting Greece to
take the necessary measures to comply with the requirements of Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975 (1)
on waste, as amended by Directive 91/156/EEC of 18 March 1991 (2)
its
obligations, the Commission will not hesitate to bring the matter before the Court of Justice.

If Greece does not fulfil

2.
The project mentioned by the Honourable Member consists of a waste sorting unit and a composting
plant. It was cofinanced by the ERDF, under the Regional Operational Programme (ROP) for Attica. The
total amount of Community cofinancing was EUR 54,3 million: EUR 33,2 million under Attica’s ROP for
1994-1999 and EUR 21,1 million under Attica’s ROP for 2000-2006. The total cost of the facilities
cofinanced was EUR 72,4 million.

According to the information available to the Commission at present, the facilities underwent several
operating trials. First there were problems, then an accident occurred and now they are apparently not in
operation. To date, the authorities responsible have provided no satisfactory explanation for the situation.
The Commission will follow the matter up and could,
if required, order the recovery of Community
cofinancing used for the construction of the facilities. It does not have any information on the site’s
environmental performance.

3.
Greece has not yet submitted its national strategy on the reduction of biodegradable waste going to
landfills. Directive 1999/31/EC of 26 April 1999 (3) on the landfill of waste requires Member States to
draw up this strategy by 16 July 2003 and to submit it to the Commission as soon as possible. For
existing landfills the Directive requires each operator to present a conditioning plan to the authorities
setting out
the landfill to the requirements of the Directive. The
Commission does not have any information on the number of existing landfills for which conditioning
plans have been drawn up.

the necessary measures to adapt

(1) OJ L 194, 25.7.1975.
(2) OJ L 78, 26.3.1991.
(3) OJ L 182, 16.7.1999.