European Parliament resolution on the communication from the Commission: Towards a thematic strategy on the prevention and recycling of waste (COM(2003) 301 — C5-0385/2003 — 2003/2145(INI))
Date: 2004-04-20
Institutions: Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety, European Parliament
Subjects: EU environmental policy, environmental law, environmental protection, quality of the environment, waste management, waste recycling

30.4.2004

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 104 E/401

Tuesday 20 April 2004

P5_TA(2004)0308

Waste prevention and recycling

European Parliament resolution on the communication from the Commission: Towards a thematic
strategy on the prevention and recycling of waste (COM(2003) 301 (cid:1) C5-0385/2003 (cid:1) 2003/
2145(INI))

The European Parliament,

(cid:1) having regard to the Commission’s communication entitled ‘Towards a thematic strategy on the pre-

vention and recycling of waste’ (COM(2003) 301 (cid:1) C5-0385/2003),

(cid:1) having regard to Decision No 1600/2002/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of

22 July 2002 on the Sixth Community Environment Action Programme (1),

(cid:1) having regard to the Commission’s communication entitled ‘Development of a thematic strategy for

the sustainable use of natural resources’ (COM(2003) 572),

(cid:1) having regard to the Commission’s communication to the Council and the European Parliament
entitled ‘Integrated product policy (cid:1) building on environmental life-cycle thinking’ (COM(2003) 302),

(cid:1) having regard to Council Directive 96/61/EC of 24 September 1996 concerning integrated pollution

prevention and control (2),

(cid:1) having regard to the Commission proposal of 29 October 2003 for a regulation of the European
Parliament and of the Council concerning the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of
chemicals (REACH), establishing a European Chemicals Agency and amending Directive 1999/45/EC
and Regulation (EC) (on persistent organic pollutants) (COM(2003) 644),

(cid:1) having regard to its resolution of 19 November 2003 on the report on the implementation of Council

Directive 75/442/EEC (Waste Framework Directive) (3),

(cid:1) having regard to its resolution of 14 November 1996 on the communication from the Commission
on the review of the Community strategy for waste management and the draft Council resolution on
waste policy (4) and Council Decision of 24 February 1997 on the Community’s strategy for waste
management (5),

(cid:1) having regard to Rule 47(2) and Rule 163 of its Rules of Procedure,

(cid:1) having regard to the report of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy
and the opinion of the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy (A5-0176/2004),

A. whereas Article 3(1) of Council Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975 on waste (6) requires Member
States to take appropriate measures to encourage, firstly, the prevention or reduction of waste pro-
duction and its harmfulness,

B. whereas Article 4 of Decision No 1600/2002/EC provides that the thematic strategies adopted by the
programme are to be submitted to the European Parliament and the Council and, where appropriate,
are to take the form of a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council to be adopted in
accordance with the (codecision) procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty,

(1) OJ L 242, 10.9.2002, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 257, 10.10.1996, p. 26.
(3) P5_TA(2003)0508.
(4) OJ C 362, 2.12.1996, p. 241.
(5) OJ C 76, 11.3.1997, p. 1.
(6) OJ L 194, 25.7.1975, p. 39. Directive as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003 of the European Parlia-

ment and of the Council (OJ L 284, 31.10.2003, p. 1).

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C. whereas Article 8(1) of Decision No 1600/2002/EC includes the following objectives,

(cid:1) achieving a significant overall reduction in the volumes of waste generated through waste prevention
initiatives, better resource efficiency and a shift towards more sustainable production and consump-
tion patterns;

(cid:1) a significant reduction in the quantity of waste going to disposal and the volumes of hazardous waste

produced while avoiding an increase of emissions to air, water and soil;

(cid:1) encouraging re-use and for wastes that are still generated: the level of their hazardousness should be
reduced and they should present as little risk as possible; preference should be given to recovery and
especially to recycling; the quantity of waste for disposal should be minimised and should be safely
disposed of; waste intended for disposal should be treated as closely as possible to the place of its
generation, to the extent that this does not lead to a decrease in the efficiency in waste treatment
operations,

D. whereas Article 8(2), point (ii) of Decision No 1600/2002/EC provides for the development and imple-
mentation of measures on waste prevention, while point (iii) addresses waste management and the
development of a thematic strategy for waste recycling,

E. whereas Article 8(2), point (iv) of Decision No 1600/2002/EC provides for the development or revi-
sion of the legislation on wastes, including,
inter alia, construction and demolition waste, sewage
sludge and biodegradable wastes, and for clarification of the distinction between waste and non-
waste and the development of adequate criteria for the further elaboration of Annex IIA and IIB of
the framework directive on wastes,

F. whereas Article 8 of Decision No 1600/2002/EC also provides for the development of a thematic
strategy on the sustainable use and management of resources and reflects the close link between the
sustainable management of natural resources and waste management,

G. whereas measures must be taken which, on the one hand, lead to lower resource use in products, a
shift to cleaner, less wasteful production processes and extended product life-spans, and, on the other
hand, influence consumer choice and demand in the market place in favour of less wasteful products
and services,

H. whereas most Member States are still not making sufficient effort to implement Community rules on
waste within the prescribed period and to apply them correctly, which is significantly detrimental to
the level of environmental protection to which the Community aspires and gives rise to considerable
competitive disadvantages for companies in Member States which do implement the rules within the
prescribed period,

I. whereas ‘waste prevention’ refers solely to the reduction of the generation of waste in the first place

and should not be confused with the diversion of waste already generated from disposal,

J. whereas, although the EU has already taken numerous measures to minimise waste problems, these
have not been sufficient to reduce the generation of hazardous and non-hazardous waste and their
adverse effects on the environment or to ensure sustainable waste management,

K. whereas cultural and regional differences in the various Member States are substantial and whereas a
uniform system must permit regional differences; whereas a comprehensive waste strategy should
therefore be developed in such a way that various instruments can be used,

L. whereas a successful waste avoidance policy should ultimately be based on a solid scientific analysis
and reliable statistical data; whereas the fact that the data available have hitherto either not been
evaluated or have been evaluated inadequately, and that the data produced on the basis of the waste
statistics regulation will not be available until 2006 at the earliest, should not serve as a pretext for
further delay in the adoption of measures to reduce the environmental impact of products and pro-
duct waste,

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M. whereas the prevention of waste inevitably constitutes an objective also for the natural resource stra-
tegy and integrated product policy, and Directive 96/61/EC and REACH could play an important role
in the prevention and treatment of waste,

Tuesday 20 April 2004

N. whereas in most States, disposal and, in particular, landfill still constitute the most frequent methods

of waste treatment,

O. whereas sorting of waste prior to putting certain fractions into state-of-the art waste land-fill sites

makes an important contribution to environmental protection,

P. whereas the prevention of waste generation and the prevention of waste which requires disposal offer

great potential for a successful quantitative waste prevention policy,

Q. whereas an adjustment in production processes can result in less waste or less hazardous waste,

R. whereas prevention, re-use, recycling and energy recovery of waste (cid:1) with the order reflecting the
order of relevance (cid:1) could make a vital contribution to the conservation of natural resources, and
whereas according to the state of the art at the present time, the separation of certain waste streams is
a condition thereof,

S. whereas there are no Community minimum standards for recovery facilities, which results in different
levels of environmental protection in the Member States, eco-dumping and distortions of competition,

T. whereas, although attempts to establish material-related recycling criteria, e.g. for plastics, or a system
of tradeable certificates may supplement the Community rules on treatment, at the present time
numerous questions concerning the practical applicability of these remain open,

U. whereas it is regrettable that all waste management operations are currently exempted from Directive
2003/87/EC establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading, given that such
operations can be a relevant contributor to CO2 emissions,

V. whereas recent

Justice concerning the distinctions between different
methods of recovery and final disposal have resulted in uncertainty about the classification of recovery
and disposal as referred to in Annex II to Directive 75/442/EEC,

judgments of the Court of

W. whereas there is an urgent need to draw a clear dividing line between recovery and disposal; whereas
clarifying the distinction between waste and non-waste is a condition of greater certainty for com-
panies in terms of law, planning and investment and whereas, moreover, there are no adequate Com-
munity definitions of waste prevention and re-use,

1. Welcomes the Commission’s communication as an appropriate basis for discussion of future strategy;

2.
Calls on the Commission to turn the future thematic strategy into an ambitious policy framework
with primary emphasis on concrete measures aimed at waste prevention, so that it achieves the objectives
of the Sixth Community Environment Action Programme;

3.
Notes and welcomes the fact that the communication broadens the thematic strategy for waste
recycling, as provided for in the Sixth Community Environment Action Programme, to include the vital
areas of waste management, inter alia waste prevention and clarification of the legal framework;

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Considers it essential for the strategy to be discussed by the European Parliament and the Council in

4.
accordance with the (codecision) procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty;

Takes the view that the title of the strategy (‘Towards a thematic strategy on the prevention and
5.
recycling of waste’) does not adequately reflect its substantive objectives and the challenges involved in a
future EU waste management policy, and therefore proposes the following title: ‘Towards a thematic stra-
tegy on the prevention, recycling and treatment of waste’;

6.
Considers it essential unequivocally to clarify the correlation between the strategy and other relevant
measures and rules, in particular the resource strategy, integrated product policy, Directive 96/61/EC and
REACH, as well as the objectives of climate and soil protection policies, and to ensure their consistency;

Considers that the strategy should be proposed simultaneously with the resource strategy and that a

7.
further intensive dialogue should be conducted until that time with all stakeholders;

8.
Points out that the overall objective of the strategy is to reduce to a minimum the negative environ-
mental impact of waste; this means that, in the thematic strategy, environmental impact should be defined,
that recycling is not an end in itself, especially not for hazardous waste, and that the waste hierarchy
should be correctly applied for different situations and materials; it should be the environmental impact
that counts; therefore calls for future legislation to give preference to waste disposal over re-use and
recycling only where there is a clear evidence that it actually is more environmentally friendly; this could,
for instance, be determined through a comparison of inter alia emission and energy consumption levels for
the various alternative processes throughout their lifecycle;

9.
Points out that the negative environmental impact of waste is best reduced by not generating the
waste in the first place, hence the overriding importance of measures to prevent or reduce the generation
of waste, in particular hazardous waste;

10.
Confirms that the objective of the sustainable waste management strategy must be prevention of the
generation of waste and sustainable resource management, i.e. that future Community measures and tar-
gets must take account of environmental, economic and social requirements on an equal footing and with
a view to the future;

11.
Calls on the Commission to continue, inter alia, to propose the mandatory phasing out of certain
hazardous substances in product-related legislation as an effective means of qualitative waste prevention, so
as to contribute to an overall reduction of 20 % in the generation of hazardous waste by 2010;

12.
Calls on the Commission to ensure proper implementation of existing directives that phase out the
use of certain hazardous substances by ensuring that decisions in comitology are in line with the provi-
sions of the directive concerned and consistent with the approach chosen in related legislation;

13.
Expressly welcomes in this connection the fact that the Commission is to use an approach with the
strategy which takes account of the entire life cycle of resource management and that future Community
measures and targets are to be based on a thorough analysis of the eco-efficiency, cost and benefit and
cost-effectiveness of various options;

14.
Stresses the need to set environmental indicators for consumer products that include inter alia the
quantity and impact of final waste; is convinced that these indicators will be a strong incentive for improv-
ing the environmental quality of products; believes that clear indicators can enable producers to direct
their investment towards environmentally friendlier materials and production methods;

15.
Calls on the Commission to be ambitious when setting new targets, to use best environmental
practice as the reference for setting targets, to aim at transitional periods that could be met by a maximum
of Member States, allowing additional time for certain Member States in well justified cases, and to ensure
that effective measures to monitor implementation are put in place;

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16.
Requests the Commission to take account of the subsidiarity principle when drawing up the stra-
tegy; emphasises in this respect the need to set clear objectives for the EU as a whole, while giving Member
States flexibility in how to achieve these objectives;

Tuesday 20 April 2004

17.
Considers that there is an urgent need to speed up the entire Treaty-infringement procedure in the
waste sector, in order to put an end to the competitive disadvantages suffered by companies established in
Member States which implement legislation within the prescribed period; encourages the Commission to
use its powers to monitor the implementation of Community law in the waste sector more stringently and
to apply Articles 226 and 228(2) of the EC Treaty without reservation;

18.
Considers, moreover, with a view to the transposition of Community law, that there is an urgent
need for more intensive coordination between the Member States, with the participation of the Commis-
sion, in order to ensure better exchange of experience and to avoid excessive discrepancies in transposition
into national law; therefore calls on the Commission and the Member States once again to set up a waste
steering and advisory committee to facilitate thorough and consistent monitoring and coordination of
implementation of the applicable waste legislation and consultation with stakeholders on all legislation
on waste;

19.
Proposes that the abovementioned body should review the existing rules on waste with a view to
coherence and simplification, with the aim of recommending, where necessary, the review of provisions
which result in unnecessary costs to the authorities and industry or which inhibit innovation, without
lowering the level of protection of human health or the environment;

Proposes that a separate category,

20.
‘re-use’, be distinguished from the waste category ‘recovery’,
between prevention and recycling; considers that, in this way, re-use will be defined in its own right and
that it will be possible to take effective measures to promote re-use; takes the view that an optimal waste
management strategy is a combination of prevention, re-use of products and components, recycling of
materials, energy recovery and environmentally friendly disposal;

Points, in this connection, to the importance of energy recovery for sustainable waste management,

21.
following recourse to all possibilities for prevention, re-use and recycling;

22.
Calls for the setting up of a Working Party on Waste Prevention, consisting of experts from the
Member States and the Commission, to evaluate, within a period of two years, current and new data and
studies on waste prevention and to draw up indicators for waste prevention and practical recommen-
dations for measures; the findings of the working party should be forwarded to the European Parliament
and the Council in a report and made available to the public; the Commission should, on the basis of the
report and the data expected by 2006 by way of the regulation on waste statistics, propose a legislative
framework on waste reduction that sets up the various tools needed to implement and accompany the
objectives set for waste reduction, namely:

(cid:1) clarification and elaboration of the definition of waste prevention,

(cid:1) guidelines for drawing up waste reduction plans,

(cid:1) bi-annual monitoring and reporting mechanisms on the implementation of the national waste reduc-

tion plans,

(cid:1) harmonised methodology for measuring, and reporting on, waste reduction through the development
of a range of harmonised waste reduction indicators for municipal and industrial waste reduction and,
if necessary, for different types of waste within these categories;

23.
Rejects compulsory waste reduction plans, since such plans would have too great an impact on
production processes; takes the view, however, that voluntary waste reduction plans or programmes at
regional, local or sectoral level would, by contrast, be welcome;

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Calls on the Commission to establish tools supplementary to the waste reduction framework, such

24.
as:

(cid:1) a cleaner production benchmark for structural funding,

(cid:1) an EU network of technical assistance centres on cleaner production that offer their services free of

charge,

(cid:1) criteria for waste reduction for inclusion in the industry authorisation process,

(cid:1) a system of accredited re-use and repair centres,

(cid:1) guidelines and criteria for implementing ‘pay-as-you-throw’ schemes, and a working group for sharing

knowledge about best practice on ‘pay-as-you-throw’ schemes,

(cid:1) a working group, operating in conjunction with the Thematic Strategy on the Sustainable Use and
Management of Natural Resources, with a view to identifying environmentally harmful subsidies on
the one hand and environmentally beneficial taxes on resources on the other;

25.
Calls on the Commission to consider extending Directive 96/61/EC to the waste sector as a whole
and, in so doing, to take account of experience to date in terms of the enforcement and effectiveness of
that directive;

26.
Calls on the Commission to propose that Directive 2003/87/EC establishing a scheme for green-
house gas emission allowance trading be extended to all waste management operations, so as to establish
an incentive to reduce CO2 emissions from this sector;

27. Welcomes the fact that the Commission recently submitted legislative proposals on mining waste
and for the revision of the batteries directive as well as the Commission’s plan to submit proposals during
2004 on biodegradable waste and to amend the sewage sludge directive, which are important elements of
the strategy;

Calls on the Commission to submit proposals within two years for harmonised standards for

28.
recovery and recycling facilities, including pre-treatment facilities, at a high level;

Calls on the Commission to submit within two years proposals for defining quality standards for

29.
materials recovered from recycling of waste;

30.
Considers that there is a need to establish further recycling targets and standards for waste streams
which, owing to their quantity or hazardousness, have a considerable impact on the environment and
which, because of their negative or low value, offer no or hardly any market incentive for recycling, with
particular reference to construction and demolition waste, as provided for in the Sixth Community
Environment Action Programme, and commercial and industrial waste;

Calls on the Commission, with a view to long-term, sustainable recycling, to propose practical

31.
measures to ensure the competitiveness of secondary raw materials in relation to primary raw materials;

Calls on the Commission to take measures to encourage re-use; recommends that Member States

32.
apply a reduced VAT rate on products sold by re-use centres;

33.
Calls for the quantities of waste for disposal to be reduced to a minimum, in order for the waste to
be recycled; calls for the most extensive ban possible on landfill of recyclable or compostable waste by the
year 2025, and requests the Commission to suggest a revision of the landfill directive accordingly, includ-
ing a phased timetable which might take the following form:

(cid:1) from 2010, a ban on landfill of non-pretreated waste with fermentable components;

(cid:1) from 2015, a ban on landfill of paper, cardboard, glass, textiles, wood, plastics, metals, rubber, cork,

pottery, concrete, brick and tiles;

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(cid:1) from 2020, a ban on landfill of all recyclable waste;

(cid:1) from 2025, a ban on landfill of all residual waste, except where this is unavoidable or hazardous (e.g.

filter ash);

Calls on the Commission to propose measures which ensure that products and their packaging put

34.
on the market after 2010 are re-usable and/or recyclable;

35.
Considers the harmonisation of landfill taxes to be appropriate since it makes landfill more expen-
sive and generates income to raise quality standards of landfills; calls for stricter criteria for the depositing
and sealing of landfill;

Confirms that manufacturer responsibility should continue to be an essential feature of Community

36.
waste policy;

37.
Stresses the importance of the implementation of the concept of individual producer responsibility
in order to encourage design aimed at waste prevention for priority end-of-life product waste streams such
as batteries, construction waste, furniture, paper and tyres;

38.
Asks the Commission to investigate in greater detail the efficiency and cost effectiveness of material-
based recycling targets and, in addition, to clarify how manufacturer responsibility should be assigned;
points out that material-based recycling targets make sense only where there are no secondary raw
material markets in operation;

39.
Asks the Commission to investigate in greater detail the possible use of tradeable certificates as an
instrument for the achievement of recovery targets, to evaluate experience with trading certificates in other
sectors and to summarise the findings in a report before they are tested in recovery sectors which are
capable of being monitored;

40.
Rejects, at present, the establishment of European recycling quotas to replace the quotas hitherto to
be achieved at national level, since they could lead to considerable discrepancies in waste standards in
Europe and thereby to distortions of competition; such an instrument would depend on the establishment
of harmonised recovery standards and the development of an efficient European monitoring and sanctions
system, which should be explored in greater depth in conjunction with tradeable certificates;

41.
Considers ‘pay-as-you-throw’ schemes to be a promising instrument for creating financial incentives
for individuals and companies to reduce the volume of residual waste or to collect waste separately; con-
siders, however, that they are more suitable for use at regional and local level, owing to the differences in
regional conditions; welcomes, therefore, the Commission’s initiative to produce a guidebook for local
decision-makers;

42.
In this respect, encourages Member States and regional and local authorities to develop and imple-
ment, in cooperation with recycling companies, policies and measures designed to ensure the separate
collection of recyclable materials; points out that the failure of certain authorities to do so leads to a
distortion of the level playing-field;

43.
Emphasises that industrial waste materials are often easier to recycle, since they are frequently purer
and of a higher quality; calls on the Commission, therefore, to take due account of this in the planned legal
act and to provide for compulsory separate collection of recyclable materials in industry;

Asks the Commission to differentiate clearly between recovery and disposal, as swiftly as possible

44.
and independently of the strategy;

45.
Calls in this connection for compliance with the judgment of the Court of Justice whereby inciner-
ation of waste in a waste incineration plant is recognised as a disposal operation even if energy is
recovered and supplied to third parties;

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Calls on the Commission to evaluate the consultation procedure as regards the definition of the

46.
concept of waste already carried out and to make it accessible to the public;

47.
Calls on the Commission, as provided in the Sixth Community Environment Action Programme, to
clarify the distinction between waste and non-waste, to clarify the definition of recovery and to draw up a
general definition of the terms ‘waste prevention’, ‘re-use’, ‘recycling’ and ‘recycler’ as swiftly as possible and
independently of the strategy;

Urges the Commission to consider the scope for making legislation on waste more flexible, for
48.
example by increasing the discretion to treat waste on a case by case basis, according to its quality, and
to apply less cumbersome administrative procedures, so as to ensure that legislation does not unnecessarily
impede the recycling and utilisation of waste;

Proposes that information campaigns should be used to heighten awareness in favour of sustainable

49.
waste management among the public, the authorities and economic stakeholders;

50.
Calls for the participation of all parties involved in the waste recycling cycle, including end users,
and calls for measures for the separate collection of waste, in order to meet the challenge of sustainable
waste management;

Calls for the establishment of advice centres to promote waste prevention and sustainable waste

51.
management among small businesses;

52.
Calls on the Member States to enter into an exchange of information at European level on national
training and education programmes in the field of waste management, and proposes that a European study
be carried out in schools on the teaching and knowledge of the problems associated with waste, with the
aim of addressing a recommendation to the Member States aimed at heightening awareness of those
problems amongst young people; also proposes in this context that a support programme be set up for
school projects on the basis of this study, with the aim of introducing waste prevention and sustainable
waste management in schools;

Calls on the Commission and the Member States to intensify their efforts to develop international

53.
waste disposal standards further at UN and OECD level;

54. Welcomes the Commission’s intention to subject the strategy to an extended impact assessment;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the govern-

55.
ments and parliaments of the Member States.

P5_TA(2004)0309

Respect for and promotion of the values on which the Union is based

European Parliament legislative resolution on the Commission communication on Article 7 of the
Treaty on European Union: Respect for and promotion of the values on which the Union is based
(COM(2003) 606 (cid:1) C5-0594/2003 (cid:1) 2003/2249(INI))

And somehow or other good men are slower in action, and overlooking the first beginnings of things, are at last aroused by
necessity itself so that some times through their very delays and tardiness of movement while they wish to retain their ease even
without dignity, they, of their own accord, lose both.

M. Tullius Cicero, Pro Sestio 100

The European Parliament,

(cid:1) having regard to Articles 6 and 7 of the Treaty on European Union and to Article 309 of the Treaty

establishing the European Community,

(cid:1) having regard to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, signed in Nice on

7 December 2000 (1),

(1) OJ C 364, 18.12.2000, p. 1.