Key points are provided below:
Waste Hierarchy
The meeting of the Environment Council on 28 June saw environment ministers from EU countries confirming a flexible 5-stage waste hierarchy, starting with waste prevention, followed by preparing for reuse, recycling/composting, other recovery (including recovery of energy by incineration), and lastly disposal to landfill as the least favoured options. The hierarchy is to be applied flexibly to deliver the best environmental result.
End of Waste Status and By-Products
One of the objectives of the review is to make the definition of waste clearer and easier to apply. There is no appetite to amend the definition of waste itself, however, the text includes proposals for a mechanism to set criteria to determine "when waste ceases to be waste" and a definition of "by-products".
According to the draft, waste can cease to be waste when it has undergone a recovery operation and complies with specific criteria in accordance with the following conditions:
- it is commonly used for the specific purposes;
- a market or demand exists for it;
- it fulfils relevant technical requirements and meets existing legislation and standard for the product
- the use of it will not lead to overall adverse environmental and human health impacts
Similarly, a substance or object, would become a by-product if the following conditions are met:
- further use of the substance is certain;
- it can be used directly without further processing other than normal industrial practice;
- it is produced as an integral part of a production process;
- further use is lawful
In both cases the criteria and waste streams would be determined through Comitology.
Definition of Recycling and Recovery
Having clear definitions of the different steps within the waste hierarchy is crucial. The current text of the draft Directive defines recycling as any recovery operation by which materials are reprocessed into products, materials or substances whether for the original or other purposes. It doesn't include energy recovery and the reprocessing into materials used as fuel or for backfilling operations. Recovery is defined as any operation provided its principal result is waste serving a useful purpose by replacing other materials, which would otherwise fulfil that purpose. It therefore includes re-use, recycling and composting.
The new Directive will replace three existing Directives: The Waste Framework Directive, the Hazardous Waste Directive and the Waste Oils Directive.
This concludes the first reading on the draft Waste Framework Directive. Next step for the Council is to develop its Common Position for discussion during the second reading, expected to commence at the beginning of next year.