CELEX: 51993PC0296
Language: en
Date: 1993-06-22
Title: Amended proposal for a COUNCIL DIRECTIVE on the incineration of hazardous waste

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                       C0M(93) 296 final- SYN 406
                                       Brussels, 22 June 1993
                      Amended proposal for a
                         COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
               on the Incineration of hazardous waste
      (presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 149(3)
                        of the EEC-Treaty)
 ---pagebreak---                                   - 2 -
                         Explanatory Memorandum
On April 7th 1992 the Commis ion submitted to the Council a proposal for
a Council Directive on the incineration of hazardous waste (1). The
proposal follows the Council Resolution on waste policy of 7 May 1990
where the Commission was invited to complete its proposals for
industrial" waste as a matter of urgency and takes into account t that
wastes have to be disposed of in the most environmentally safe manner
as set out in the Resolution. The proposal provides for measures and
procedures to prevent or at least to reduce as far as possible the
effects on the environment as a whole and the resulting risks to human
health from the Incineration of hazardous wastes. To this end
appropriate operating conditions and stringent emission limit values
based on the best technologies available In the early 90s are set and
in accordance with an integrated approach the shifting of pollution
from one environmental medium (air) to another one (water) prohibited.
The Economic and Social Committee adopted     its opinion on 22 October
1992(2).
At its Plenary Sessions in December 1992 the European Parliament
approved 26 amendments 15 of which were accepted by the Commission
either in whole or in part. At the March 93 session 3 further
compromise amendments were approved.
The accepted and rejected amendments are commented upon as follows:
Amendments accepted by the Commission
Amendment nos 1-3 underline the high level of environmental protection
and the precautionary principle on which the proposal is based. In
this context prevention, recycling and reuse which following the
Community's policy have priority over final          disposal  shall be
emphasized as well (recitals 5, 5a (new) and 9a new).
To reduce the content of dangerous substances from the residues of the
 incineration process amendments 7 and 22 put specific attention to a
suitable treatment of the residues, particularly filter dust (recital
16 new and art. 10.1.).
Amendment 8 goes a little too far; it is not practicable to prevent all
effects to the environment from hazardous waste incineration but they
can at least be reduced as far as possible. Such effects arise even if
the legal requirements concerning the avoidance and recycling of waste
are met because at least the remaining fraction of the wastes
pretreated thermally - incinerated requires final disposal on landfill
sites (art. 1,1).
The exclusion of specific hazardous waste from the scope          of  the
proposal Is being made clearer by amendment 9 (art. 2, 1 ) .
(1) 0J C 130 of 21.5.92
(2) 0J C 332 Of 16.12.92.
 ---pagebreak---                                   - 3 -
The reference to "state-of-the-art" v/hlch is introduced by âffiëJQgi!fiDtwlQ
emphasises its obligatory use once an application Is madeCart. 3,2).
To clarify what is meant by state-of-ths-art the summary reports under
Article 15.3 must expliclteiy refer to St. Therefore an adaptation of
this Article is required and proposed hereunder.
Amendment ... ,11 refers to the waste resulting from the incineration
process which should also be looked at carefully with respect to the
final disposal. As quantity and quality of these vastes are not known
completely In advance the list requested under this amendment must
refer to the expected wastes (art 3,3).
Amendment 13 changes the wording for representative sampling and
emphasises the Importance of strictly controlling the wastes to be
incinerated by an extension of the time for keeping the samples and by
an additional obligation of keeping results of analyses of the wastes
carried out before the incineration (art. 5,3).
Amendment 17 is the basis for a useful clarification related to the
complete oxidation of the combustion gases (art. 7,3).
Monthly random sampling introduced by Amendment 23 is contributing to a
more reliable supervision of the real emission behaviour of the
incineration plant (art.12, 1 ) .
The current environmental pollution by hazardous waste Incineration Is
resulting from the operation of the existing plants. Shortening the
time period before shutting down these plants by amendment 25 reduces
the continuing pollution of the environment (art. 14,2).
The specific report requested by amendment 26 on the implementation of
the directive, to be submitted to Council and European Parliament, has
to be based on the reports on the implementation of the directive by
the   Member     States. Article  18    and  directive   91/692/EEC       on
standardising and rationalising reports on the implementation of
certain directives relating to the environment foresee a three year
reporting period. The transposition of this directive Into national
legislation Is unlikely before mid 1995. To avoid additional reports
of the Member States the date for the specific report has to be set at
1 January 2000 (art. 18,2).
To determine the concentration of dioxlns and furans in the range of
0,1ng/m3 with a sufficient certainty the measurement method currently
under elaboration by CEN will not be available before the end of 1995.
After one year's experience with the method an emission value of
0,1ng/m3 for dioxlns and furans will be legally binding from 1
January 1997 onwards until this date be used at least as a guide value
as introduced by amendment 4 and compromise amenendment 46. The
reduction of the sampling period to eight hours reflects the ongoing
CEN work (art. 8,2 and recital 14).
The compromise amendments 45 and 47 conf irm the prohibi tIon of
discharges of waste waters resulting from the cleaning of exhaust gases
by leaving the originally proposed text unchanged. To avoid a
continued shifting of pollution by existing plants the prohibition Is
now extended expliclteiy to all plants (recital 15 and art. 9,3).
 ---pagebreak---                                   "- 4 -
Amendments rejected by the Commission
Amendments 6 and 24 aim at weakening the importance of equivalent
environmental protection standards to be met when hazardous wastes are
being Incinerated in other plants not solely destined to this purpose.
 For this reason the amendments were rejected.
 Such other plants which want to replace part of their regular fuel by
 hazardous wastes undergo a substantial change for which the proposed
 adaptation period is necessary. Amendment 12 halving this period does
 not consider sufficiently the technical and operating requirements and
 was therefore rejected.
 Amendment 14 addresses all operations before and after the incineration
 of the hazardous waste and requires measures as to prevent any
 measureable pollution outside the plant. The proposed directive goes
 further and requires avoidance or minimisation of emissions at the
 source without allowing for any dilution. Therefore this amendment was
 rejected.
 The rejected Amendment 15 distinguishes between available European and
 world-wide best available technologies. The Annex TN III» however
 enumerates only some best available technologies by way of example.
 Characteristics and constituents of hazardous wastes require in each
 case specific sets of technologies.
 Amendment 16 requires detoxification which may create an additional
 dangerous potential to workers and the environment. To achieve a
 (technically) complete incineration as set out In the proposal goes
 further than an "optimization of the combustion process wherever
 possible". For these reasons the amendment was rejected.
 The Impact assessment of hazardous waste Incineration plants is subject
 to directive 85/337/EEC. To modify this directive by setting here
 specific requirements for the impact assessment is not acceptable and
'amendment 18 was rejected.
 A specific design of the storage capacity for rainwater run-off or
 other possibly contaminated waters from the plant site or the
 appropriate capacity shall be left to the Member States. In line with
 the principle of subsidiarity and to take into account regional/local
 conditions amendment 21 was rejected.
 The text of the modified provision follows:
 ---pagebreak---                                         — s-
                      Modlfled proposal for a Council Directive
                        on the incineration of hazardous waste
            (presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 149,3 of the
                                      EEC Treaty)
          ORIGINAL TEXT                                      AMENDED TEXT
                                     Fifth recital
  Whereas therefore preventive action           Whereas therefore preventive action
  is required to protect the                    is required to protect the
  environment against particularly              environment against particularly
  dangerous emissions from the                  dangerous emissions from the
  Incineration of hazardous waste and           incineration of hazardous waste and
  to guarantee citizens the right to a          to guarantee citizens the right to a
  clean and healthy environment;                clean and healthy envlonment and to
                                                a hlah level of public health
                                                protection;
                                 Fifth recital a (new)
                                                Whereas preventive and precautionar?
                                                measures are required to reduce
                                                emissions to the technically lowest
                                                possible level as they are harmful
                                                to human health and the environment
                                                because of their toxic,
                                                nonbiodegradable and cumulative
                                                nature;
O                                Ninth recitai a (new)
                                                Whereas the incineration of waste
                                                does not provide a permanent
                                                 solution to the problem: whereas the
                                                main aim must be the prevention of
                                                waste», whereas only when this is
                                                 impossible should waste be recovered
                                                 and only when recovery of the waste
                                                materials is also impossible should
                                                 disposal in an environmentally
                                                 acceptable manner be considered;
 ---pagebreak---         ORIGINAL TEXT                                    AMENDED TEXT
                                Fourteenth recital
Whereas, for the emissions of                Whereas a limit value for the
dioxlns and furans, a guide value            emissions of dioxlns and furans y l M
only should be set due to the lack           be legally binding from 1 January
of existing appropriate measurement          1097 onwards: whereas until this
methods; whereas, nonetheless It Is          date Member States should use this
decisive to minimise such emissions          value at least as a guide value;
by using progressive techniques and          whereas, nonetheless it is decisive
to make more efforts to meet the             to minimise such emissions by using
fixed guide values;                          progressive techniques and to make
                                             every effort to meet the fixed guide
                                             values; whereas until this date
                                             sufficient operating experience can
                                             be obtained using a CEN standard for
                                             sampling and analysis which Is "
                                             expected to be available In 1995;
                                 Fifteenth recital
Whereas the environment requires an           Whereas the environment requires an
 Integrated protection against                Integrated protection against
emissions resulting from the                  emissions resulting from the
 Incineration of hazardous wastes;            incineration of hazardous wastes;
whereas, therefore, waste water               whereas, therefore, waste water
 resulting from the cleaning of               resulting from the cleaning of
exhaust gases of new plants shall             exhaust gases of new plants shall
not be discharged, In order to                not be discharged, in order to
 prevent a pollution shift from one           prevent a pollution shift from one
environmental medium to another;              environmental medium to another;
                                              whereas, to meet these requirements
                                              existing plants shall be retrofitted
                                              rapidly;
 ---pagebreak---                                          -r
        ORIGINAL TEXT                                       AMENDED TEXT
                            Sixteenth recital a (new)
                                             yyhareas. the Member States must lay
                                             down suitable treatment techniques
                                             for fflter dusts and other residues
                                              \n order to reduce the content of
                                             organic «ihyjajfce» or heavy metals».
                                   Article 1(1)
1. The aim of this Directive is to            1. The aim of this Directive is to
provide for measures and procedures           provide for measures and procedures
to prevent or at least to minimise            to prevent or where not practicable
the effects on the environment, in            to reduce as far as possible
particular the pollution of air,              negative effects on the environment,
soil, surface and groundwater, and             in particular the pollution of air,
the resulting risks to human health,          soil, surface and groundwater and
from the incineration of hazardous            the resulting risk to human health
waste and, to this end, to set up             from the incineration of hazardous
and maintain appropriate operating            waste which arises irrespective of
conditions and emission limit values           legal requirements concerning the
for hazardous waste incineration              avoidance and recycling and, to this
plants within the Community.                  end, to set up and maintain
                                               appropriate operating conditions and
                                               emission limit values for hazardous
                                               waste incineration plants within the
                                               Commun i ty.
                 Article 2(1). second Indent, introductory clause
   combustible liquid wastes                      combustible liquid wastes
    including waste oils as defined                including waste oils as defined
    in Council Directive 75/439/EEC                in Council Directive 75/439/EEC.
    If                                            provided that they meet the
                                                  following three criteria:
 ---pagebreak---                                              H
          ORIGINAL TEXT                                    AMENDED TEXT
                                    Article 3(2)
   2. the permit shall be given only              the permit shall be given only
      If the application shows that               If the application shows that
      the Incineration plant Is                   the Incineration plant Is
      designed, equipped and will be              designed, equipped and will be
      operated In such a manner that              operated in such a manner that
      all appropriate preventive                  all appropriate state-of-the-art
      measures against environmental              preventive measures against
      pollution. In particular                    environmental pollution, have
      measures to prevent or minimise             been taken. As a minimum, those
      emissions, have been taken. As              measures provided for by
      a minimum, those measures                   Articles 5 to 13 must be met;
      provided for by Articles 5 to 13
      must be met;
                                     Article 3(3)
   3. the permit given by the
      competent authorities must               3. the permit given by the
      explicitly list the categories              competent authorities must
      and/or the generic types of                 explicitly list the categories
      those hazardous wastes which may            and/or the generic types of
      be treated In the Incineration              those hazardous wastes which may
      plant as well as the total                  be treated In the incineration
      capacity of the incinerator;                plant as well as the total
                                                  capacity of the incinerator; a.
                                                   list must also be drawn U P of
                                                  the expected waste resulting
k.                                                each year from incineration
                                                   (including slag, flue dust.
                                                   filter cake and waste water)
                                                   indicating the nature and final
                                                   disposal of this waste».
 ---pagebreak---                                        — UN-
         ORIGINAL TEXT                                     AMENDED TEXT
                            Article 5(3). third indent
   representative samples have to be             representative samples have to be
   taken where appropriât» and a»                taken, wherever possible, before
   far as possible before unloading,             unloading, to verify the
   to verify the conformity with the             conformity with the description
   description provided under point              provided under point 2 by
   2 by carrying out controls like               carrying out controls like those
   those Indicated In Annex TN I and             indicated in Annex TN I and to
   to enable the competent                       enable the competent authorities
   authorities to identify the                   to identify the nature of the
   nature of the wastes treated.                 wastes treated. These samples
   These samples have to be kept for             have to be kept for at least one
   at least ten days after the                   month after the incineration.
   incineration.                                 Documents concerning analyses
                                                 shall be kept for three years.
              Article 7(3). first subparagraph, first three sentences
3.  all waste incineration plants             3.  ail waste incineration plants
    shall be equipped with auxiliary              shall be equipped with auxiliary
    burners. These burners must be                burners. These burners must be
    switched on automatically when                switched on automatically when
    the temperature of the                        the temperature of the
    combustion gases, after the last              combustion gases, after the last
     injection of combustion air,                  injection of combustion air,
    fails below the relevant                      falls below the relevant
    temperature stated in points 4                temperature stated in points 4
    and 5. They shall also be used                and 5. They shall also be used
    during plant start-up and shut-               during plant start-up and shut-
    down operations in order to                   down operations in order to
    ensure that the above-mentioned               ensure that the above-mentioned
    minimum temperature is                        minimum temperature is
    maintained at all times during                maintained in the post
    these operations and as long as               combustion zone at all times
    the waste Is In the combustion                during these operations and as
    chamber.                                      long as unburnt watte is In the
                                                  combustion chamber.
 ---pagebreak---                                              ~Ao-
       ORIGINAL TEXT                                    AMENDED TEXT
                                  Article 8(2)
2. the emission of dioxlns and              2. the emission of dioxins and
   furans shall be minimised by the            furans shall be minim/sed by the
   most progressive techniques. To             most progressive techniques.
   this end every effort must be               All average values measured over
   made to ensure that all average             the sample period of a minimum
   values measured over the sample             of 6 hours and a maximum of 8_
   period of a minimum of six hours            hours must not exceed a 1imlt
   and a maximum of 16. hours do not           value of 0.1 ng/m3 at the iatest
   exceed a guide value of 0.1                 from 1 January 1997 onwards.
   ng/m3.                                      Until this date. Member States
                                               should use this value at ieast
   This guide value is defined as              as a guide value.
   the sum of the concentrations of
   the individual dioxlns and                  The limit value is defined as
   furans evaluated in accordance              the sum of the concentrations of
   with Annex I ;                              the individual dioxins and
                                               furans evaluated in accordance
                                               with Annex I ;
                                  Article 9(3)
3. Discharge to the aquatic                 3. Discharge to the aquatic
   environment of waste waters                 environment of waste waters
   resulting from the cleaning of               resulting from the cleaning of
   exhaust gases shall be                      exhaust gases shall be
   prohibited for new plants.                  prohibited for alI plants.
                       Article 10(1). first subparagraph
1. Wastes resulting from the                1. Wastes resulting from the
   operation of the incineration               operation of the incineration
   plant shall be recovered or                 plant shall be recovered or
   disposed of in accordance with              disposed of in accordance with
   Directives 75/442/EEC and                   Directives 75/442/EEC and
   91/689/EEC. This may require a              91/689/EEC. This may require a
   pretreatment of such wastes                 pretreatment of such wastes
   according to the technical                  according to the technical
   development.                                deveIopment. Member States
                                               shall lay down appropriate
                                                treatment technologies for
                                                filter dust and other residues
                                                in order to reduce the content
                                               of organic substances or heavy
                                               metals.
 ---pagebreak---                                                  A\
         ORIGINAL TEXT                                     AMENDED TEXT
                                 Article 12(1)(c)
(c)   periodical, i.e. monthly               (c)  Monthly measurements, on the
     measurements of the substances                basis of samples taken on
     mentioned In Article 8, points                different dates, of the
      1(c) and 2;                                  substances mentioned in Article
                                                   8, points 1(c) and 2;
                                   Article 14(2)
2.  However, the plant operator may              However, the plant operator may
    notify the competent authority               notify the competent authority
    within six months after the date             within six months after the date
    specified by Article 19(1) that              specified by Article 19(1) that
    the existing plant will not be               the existing plant will not be
    operated for more than 20 000                operated for more than 15 000
    hours within a period of five                hours within a period of three
    years at maximum starting with               years at maximum starting with
    the operators' notification                  the operators' notification
    before being definitely shut                 before being definitely shut
    down. In this case the                       down. In this case the
    provisions of paragraph 1 do not             provisions of paragraph 1 do not
    apply.                                       apply.
                                   Article 15(3)
3.  The Commission, assisted by the           3. The Commission, assisted by the
    Committee as described in                    Committee as described in
    Article 17, shall annually                   Article 17, shall annually
    submit to the Member States a                submit to the Member States a
    summary report, based on the                 summary report, based on the
     information described in                     information described in
    paragraph 2, in order to inform              paragraph 2, in order to inform
    on the progress in emission                  on the progress in emission
    control techniques already                   control techniques already
     implemented and any further                  implemented and any further
    major technical developments in              major technical developments in
    this field.                                  this field.
    Member States shall ensure that              Member States shall ensure that
    the summary reports are                      the summary reports on then
    disseminated to their competent              current state-of-the-art are
    author it les.                               disseminated to their compete-
                                                 author it ies
 ---pagebreak--- ORIGINAL TEXT                            AMENDED TEXT
              ALUfiJ-t-JB^XaeM).
                           2. The Commission shaiI submIt.to
                           the Counel i andjthe European
                           Pari lament by_l_January 2000 a
                           report on the ImpIementat ion end
                           assessment of thIs Direct Iye In
                           relation to the^ajm of waste
                           d Isposa I which JSQJ^S ngt= harm the
                           environment and.jpubJ.Ic hea11h.
 ---pagebreak---                                                                         ISSN 0254-1475
                                                                 COM (93) 296 final
                                                        DOCUMENTS
  ËN                                                                              14
                                   Catalogue number : CB-CO-93-331-EN-C
                                                               ISBN 92-77-57103-9
' Jffice for Official Publications of the European Communities
I.y-2985 Luxembourg