CELEX: 51998PC0189
Language: en
Date: 1998-03-26
Title: Amended proposal for a Council Directive on the landfill of waste

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                       Brussels, 26.03.1998
                                      COM( 1998) 189 final
                                      97/0085 (SYN)
                  Amended proposal for a
                 COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
                  on the landfill of waste
(presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 189 a (2)
                    of the EC-Treaty)
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                         EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
Pursuant to Article 189 (a) paragraph 2 of the EC Treaty, the Commission submits an
amended Proposal for a Council Directive on the landfill of waste. The amended
Proposal takes account of a number of amendments from the European Parliament
which were adopted at its Plenary Session on 16-20 February 1998.
29 of the 33 amendments were adopted at the Plenary Session. The Commission can
agree in principle to amendments 1, 5, 6, 8-11, 14-15, 19-21, 23, 24, 26 and 29. The
Commission position on the amendments are listed in the following.
Amendment 1 introduces a reference to the waste hierarchy in a recital. The
Commission fully agrees to this change.
Amendments 2, 3, 4 and 32 represent proposals for new recitals. Recitals calling for a
new Directive on composting, a new Directive on the incineration of non-hazardous
waste and a promotion of the use of economic instruments are among those which are
not acceptable for Commission. In principle the Commission can agree that such
Proposals will be put forward however, the Commission cannot accept the obligations
in the form they have been put forward in these amendments. As regards amendment
32, which states that incineration is a sound alternative to landfilling, the Commission
cannot agree. The Commission Waste Strategy lists landfilling and incineration at the
bottom of the waste hierarchy. The aim is to move waste further up in the hierarchy
towards environmentally sound alternatives such as waste prevention, re-use and
recycling.
Amendment 5 addresses the need for legislation on the processing of dredging
sludges. A revision of the sewage sludge Directive is upcoming and therefore, the
Commission agrees in principle to this amendment.
Amendments 6 and 21 deletes the wording "as far as possible" in recital 23 and in
Article 10 which will ensure that the cost of the financial security is included in the
price to be charged for the landfilling of waste. The Commission supports these
amendments.
Amendment 7, part of amendment 16 and amendment 23, address the need for
improved monitoring and reporting systems. The majority of the suggested
obligations can be supported by the Commission as they seek to ensure an increased
transparency. However, the Commission cannot accept amendment number 7 as this
amendment obliges the Commission to transmit the reports drafted by Member States.
Amendment 8 specifies and clarifies the aim of the Directive. The Commission
supports this amendment.
Amendments 9 and 11 regard definitions. Concerning the definition of inert waste it
has been suggested in amendment 9 to add a specific reference to the proposed water
                                         -7
 ---pagebreak---  framework Directive. This is acceptable for the Commission. Furthermore, it is
 suggested to define liquid waste more specifically in relation to percentage of solids
 in amendment 11. This amendment is in principle acceptable to the Commission
 however, no such specification exists in Community legislation today and some
 Member States have expressed major difficulties with such specification.
 Amendment 10 clarifies that mine storage and underground storage are covered by
 the overall definition of landfill. The Commission strongly supports this clarification
 however, the Commission has always interpreted the definition of landfill in a way
 which also included underground storage.
 Concerning the suggested definition on underground storage in amendment 12, the
 Commission cannot accept this specific definition, as the general definition of landfill
 also covers underground disposal of waste.
 In general the Commission cannot support further exemptions than those given in the
 Commission Proposal. Furthermore, the spreading of gypsum and lime for the
 purposes of fertilisation or improvement, which is suggested in amendment 13, would
 not normally be covered by the definition of landfill. However, the Commission will
 look more closely into this specific exemption and review the possibilities for an
 exemption.
 Amendments 14 and 15 introduce an exemption for non-hazardous sludges to be
 deposited in surface water including the waterway bed as well as an exemption for the
 deposit of unpolluted soil or non-hazardous inert waste from different mining
 activities. Based on information from Member States and the discussions in the
 Council the Commission can accept these amendments.
 Amendment 16 introduces an obligation for the Commission to transmit a report on
national strategies to the Parliament and Council as well as an obligation for Member
 States and the Commission to report on the compliance with the reduction targets and
the possible need for adjustment. Amendment 16 also widens the scope of the targets
for biodegradable waste to cover also industrial waste as well as changes the time
frame for Member States to monitor the amount of biodegradable waste. The
reporting obligation in amendment 16 is the only part of this amendment which is
acceptable for the Commission. Statistics for biodegradable industrial waste do not
exist and therefore, this widening of the scope is not acceptable. Furthermore, the part
of the amendment which allows for Member States not to monitor before one year
before the targets enter into force is not acceptable for the Commission. Finally the
targets in Article 5 should remain fixed and legally binding in order to ensure that
Member States plan and initiate alternative waste management procedures.
Amendment 19 deletes the exemption for tyres with a diameter above 1400 mm. The
Commission agrees to this amendment as information has been put forward which
gives evidence that such large tyres can be shredded and recycled.
 ---pagebreak--- Amendment 20 changes the obligation for treatment. The change is in line with the
changes which has already agreed during the Council discussions and to which the
Commission can agree.
Amendment 22 concerns landfill tax. The Commission is not expected to put forward
a Proposal on economic instruments and therefore, the Commission cannot support
amendment 22 which includes such a commitment.
Amendment 24 specifies the obligations for the operator during the aftercare period.
The suggested change will ensure that a 30 year aftercare period is foreseen. The
Commission supports amendment 24 as this amendment will ensure a minimum
aftercare period which is not included in the Commission Proposal.
Amendment 25 addresses permits. The permit to be issued for the operation of
landfills in relation to the Commission Proposal includes specific and strict
requirements. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that existing landfills not only have
a permit according to Directive 75/442/EEC on waste as amended by Directive
91/156/EEC, but also obtain a new permit as requested in the Commission Proposal.
Therefore, the Commission cannot accept amendment 25.
Amendment 26 introduces a provision to ensure that landfills without a permit in
accordance with Directive 75/442/EEC are closed down. The Commission can accept
amendment 26 even though this change is unnecessary, as such landfills should have
been closed down already.
The amendments 27, 29, 30 and 31 address the technical annexes. The Commission
cannot agree to introduce changes to the technical annexes at this point as such
changes should be made by the Committee as laid down in Article 16 of the
Commission Proposal. However, the introduced reference to the water framework
Directive in amendment 29 is acceptable for the Commission. The Commission
cannot accept amendments 27, 30 and 31.
 ---pagebreak---  Amended Proposal for a
                               COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
                                on the landfill of waste
                       (presented by the Commission pursuant
                    to Article 189a paragraph 2 of the EC Treaty)
         ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                            AMENDED PROPOSAL
                                    Recital 3 a (new)
                                              Whereas landfill of waste is the option of
                                              last resort within the hierarchy of waste
                                              management principles as established in
                                              the Commission Communication COM
                                              (96)399;
                                    Recital 9a (new)
                                              Whereas uniform European legislation on
                                              the processing of dredging sludges is
                                              desirable:
                                       Recital 23
Whereas under the polluter pays principle     Whereas under the polluter pays principle
it is necessary, inter alia, to take into     it is necessary, inter alia, to take into
account any damage to the environment         account any damage to the environment
caused by a landfill; whereas, as a result,   caused by a landfill; whereas, as a result,
it shall be ensured that rates for waste      it shall be ensured that rates for waste
disposal in a landfill are fixed in such a    disposal in a landfill are fixed in such a
way as to cover all the costs involved in     way as to cover all the costs involved in
the setting up and operation of the           the setting up and operation of the
facility, including as far as possible the   facility, including the financial security
financial security or its equivalent which   or its equivalent which the site operator
the site operator must provide, the cost of  must provide, the cost of closing the site
closing the site and the cost of any          and the cost of any necessary aftercare
necessary aftercare measures, so as to       measures, so as to ensure that these rates
ensure that these rates reflect the true     reflect the true costs for the whole life
costs for the whole life time of a landfill  time of a landfill and that these costs are
and that these costs are not borne by the    not borne by the public purse;
public purse;
                                       Article 1
 ---pagebreak---  With a view to meeting the requirements       With a view to meeting the requirements
of Directive 75/442/EEC, and in               of Directive 75/442/EEC, and in
particular Articles 3 and 4 thereof, the      particular Articles 3 and 4 thereof, the
aim of this Directive is to provide for       aim of this Directive is, bv wav of
measures, procedures and guidance to          stringent operational and fôçhnjçal
prevent or reduce as far as possible          requirements on waste and landfills, to
negative effects on the environment, in       provide for measures, procedures and
particular the pollution of surface water,    guidance to prevent or reduce as far as
groundwater, soil and air, as well as the     possible negative effects on the
resulting risks to human health, from         environment, in particular the pollution
landfilling of waste                          of surface water, groundwater, soil and
                                              air, and on the global environment
                                              including the greenhouse effect, as well
                                              as the resulting risks to human health,
                                              from landfilling of waste, during the
                                              setting up. operational, closure and
                                              aftercare phases.
                                       Article 2(e)
"inert waste" shall mean waste that does      "inert waste" shall mean waste that does
not undergo any significant physical,         not undergo any significant physical,
chemical or biological transformations.       chemical or biological transformations.
Inert waste will not dissolve, burn or        Inert waste will not dissolve, burn or
otherwise physically or chemically react,     otherwise physically or chemically react,
biodegrade or adversely affect other          biodegrade or adversely affect other
matter with which it comes into contact       matter with which it comes into contact
in a. way likely to give rise to              in a way likely to give rise to
environmental pollution or harm human         environmental pollution or harm human
health. The total leachability and            health. The total leachability and
pollutant content of the waste and            pollutant content of the waste and
ecotoxicity of the leachate must be           ecotoxicity of the leachate must be
insignificant;                                insignificant and not endanger the good
                                              ecological quality of surface and/or
                                              groundwater as defined bv the Directive
                                              for a framework for Community action in
                                              the field of water policy (Dir. .../.../EC)
                                       Article 2 (f)
 f) "landfill" shall mean a waste disposal     f) "landfill" shall mean a waste disposal
 site for the deposit of waste on to or into   site for the deposit of waste on to or into
 land, including internal waste disposal       land, including mine storage, and
 sites (i.e. landfill where a producer of      underground storage, internal waste
 waste is carrying out its own waste           disposal sites (i.e. landfill where a
 disposal at the place of production) and      producer of waste is carrying out its own
 excluding facilities where waste is           waste disposal at the place of production)
 unloaded in order to permit its               and excluding facilities where waste is
                                                    r
 ---pagebreak---  preparation for further transport for          unloaded in order to permit its
 recovery,     treatment     or     disposal    preparation for further transport for
 elsewhere, and temporary (i.e. less than       recovery,     treatment    or     disposal
,one year) deposit of waste prior to            elsewhere, and temporary (i.e. less than
 recovery, treatment or disposal;               one year) deposit of waste prior to
                                                recovery, treatment or disposal;
                                        Article 2(p)
 "liquid waste" shall mean any waste in "liquid waste" shall mean any waste in
 liquid form including waste waters but liquid form where a liquid is defined as a
 excluding sludge;                              fluid containing £ 45% solids bv weight
                                                and flow characteristics to be defined
                                                following determination of a test method
                                                in accordance with the procedure laid
                                                down in Article 16:
                                 Article 3(2) third indent
the deposit of dredging sludges alongside the deposit of non hazardous dredging
 small waterways from where they have sludges alongside small waterways from
been dredged out;                              where they have been dredged out and of
                                               non hazardous sludges in surface water
                                               including the waterway bed:
                                Article 3(2), fourth indent
the deposit of unpolluted soil or of non the deposit of unpolluted soil or of non
hazardous inert materials resulting from hazardous inert waste resulting from the
the extracting of mineral resources.           prospecting for or extracting, processing
                                               or storing of mineral resources, or from
                                               quarrying.
                         Article 5, paragraph 1, subparagraph 1
 1) Member States shall set up a national 1) Member States shall set up a national
strategy for implementation of the strategy for implementation of the
reduction of biodegradable municipal reduction of biodegradable municipal
waste going to landfills at the entry into waste going to landfills at the entry into
force of this Directive and notify the force of this Directive and notify the
 Commission of this strategy ;                  Commission of this strategy . Within 6
                                                months of the date of transposition given
                                                in Article 18. the Commission shall
                                                provide the Council and European
                                                Parliament with a report drawing together
                                                the national strategies:
                                      Article 5(2)(d)
 ---pagebreak---  (d)whole used tyres from two years from        (d)whole used tyres from two years from
 the date of entry into force of this           the date of entry into force of this
 Directive and shredded used tyres five         Directive and shredded used tyres five
years from this date (excluding in both         years from this date (excluding in both
instances bicycle tyres and tvres with an       instances bicycle tyres);
outside diameter above 1400 mm):
                                        Article 6(1)
 l)only waste that has been subject to l)only waste that has been subject to
treatment is landfilled;                       treatment is landfilled. This requirement
                                               does not have to be applied to inert waste
                                               for which treatment is not technically
                                               suitable or to other waste for which such
                                               treatment does not reduce the amount of
                                               waste or the dangers for human health or
                                               the environment.
                                         Article 10
Member States shall ensure that the            Member States shall ensure that the
minimum price to be charged by all             minimum price to be charged by all
public and private landfill operators for      public and private landfill operators for
the disposal of any type of waste in a         the disposal of any type of waste in a
landfill shall cover at least all costs        landfill shall cover at least all costs
involved in the setting up and operation       involved in the setting up and operation
of the site, including as far as possible the  of the site, including the cost of the
cost of the financial security referred to     financial security referred to in Article
in Article 8(1 )(c), and the estimated costs   8(1 )(c), and the estimated costs of the
of the closure and aftercare of the site for   closure and aftercare of the site for a
a period of at least 50 years. Member          period of at least 50 years. Member
States shall ensure transparency in the        States shall ensure transparency in the
collection and use of any necessary cost       collection and use of any necessary cost
information.                                   information.
                                  Article 11, paragraph 2
2) For landfill sites which have been          2) For landfill sites which have been
exempted from provisions of this               exempted from provisions of this
Directive by virtue of Article 3(3)            Directive by virtue of Article 3(3)
Member States shall take the necessary         Member States shall take the necessary
measures to provide for :                      measures to provide for :
   regular visual inspection of the waste at      regular visual inspection of the waste at
 the point of deposit in order to ensure that  the point of deposit in order to ensure that
 only non hazardous or inert waste from        only non hazardous or inert waste from
 the island or the isolated settlement is      the island or the isolated settlement is
 accepted at the site; and                     accepted at the site; and
   a register on the quantities of waste that     a register on the quantities of waste that
                                       3
 ---pagebreak--- are deposited at the site be kept.             are deposited at the site be kept and be
                                               publicly available.
                                               Member States shall ensure that
                                               information on the type and volume of
                                               waste going to such exempted sites shall
                                               form part of the regular reports to the
                                               Commission on the implementation of
                                               the directive.
                                  Article 13, paragraph 4
4) for as long as the competent authority      4) for as long as the competent authority
considers that landfill is likely to cause a   considers that landfill is likely to cause a
hazard to the environment, the operator        hazard to the environment, the operator
of the site shall be responsible for           of the site shall be responsible for
monitoring and analysing landfill gas and      monitoring and analysing landfill gas and
leachate from the site and the                 leachate from the site ; this being for a
groundwater regime in the vicinity of the      period of at least 30 years after closure of
site in accordance with Annex III.             the landfill. The competent authority mav
                                               extend or shorten the said period if the
                                               operator is able to demonstrate, on the
                                               basis of the overall management
                                               programme laid down in the Annexes,
                                               that the landfill no longer constitutes an
                                               active danger to the environment.
                                               However, no time limit should be
                                               imposed as regards the liability regime as
                                               established bv the Member States.
                            Article 14, subparagraph 4a (new)
                                               4a) Member States shall close down anv
                                               existing landfill sites which have not been
                                               granted a permit under the waste
                                               framework directive (75/442/EEC as
                                               amended bv Directive 91/156/EEC).
                                 Annex I, 2, fourth indent
treat contaminated water and leachate          treat contaminated water and leachate
collected from the landfill to the             collected from the landfill to the
appropriate standard required for their         appropriate standard required for their
 discharge                                      discharge so as not to endanger the good
                                                ecological quality of surface and/or
                                                groundwater as defined bv the Directive
                                                for a framework for Community action in
                                                the field of water policy (Dir. ../../EC).
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                                                                    ISSN 0254-1475
                                                            COM(98) 189 final
                                              DOCUMENTS
EN                                                             03 14 13 15
                                    Catalogue number : CB-C0-98-196-EN-C
                                                             ISBN 92-78-32533-3
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