Environment

Europe's future targets and methods for dealing with waste, including packaging materials, will de debated tomorrow (8 April) as the European Parliament's environment committee votes on the draft Waste Framework Directive.

Conservative MEP Caroline Jackson, the rapporteur responsible for leading development of the directive, has tabled amendments that would add new targets on the recycling of household waste and of waste from construction.

Following tomorrow's second reading and vote on the draft directive by the environment committee, the directive is due to go before a plenary session for approval in June.

Jackson wants to see EU member states reuse and recycle at least 50% of household waste by weight, and 70% of construction and demolition waste by weight, by 2020.

Her move comes after the European Council of Ministers removed all reference to targets from its common position.

"The Council of Ministers don't like to be tied down by targets," Jackson said.

Jackson also wants to expand the definition of recovery from waste, because the current definition would only apply to plants where waste is used to power a process.

An amendment adopted in the directive's first reading deleted a draft energy efficiency formula, which would have been the "yardstick" for determining which energy-from-waste plants could qualify as recovery operations.

Jackson pointed out that many plants produced power and heat for external use, and said it would be "absurd to deny the right of these plants, if energy efficient, to be deemed 'recovery' operations".

Jackson also said she was opposed to amendments that would call for member states to set up material-specific waste collection schemes.

"Each member state must set this for themselves," she said.

One amendment includes the proposal for member states, possibly through legislation, to encourage producers of waste to provide publicly available information on the extent to which products are reusable or recyclable.

Another calls on member states to draw up a product eco-design policy by 2010 to address waste generation and focus on durable, reusable and recyclable products.

Jackson said she wanted to negotiate for a second-reading agreement at June's plenary, but she was "not prepared to give up on recycling targets".

If no agreement is reached at that stage, the legislation would go before a conciliation committee, which would prepare a joint text for approval by the European Parliament and Council of Ministers.

More from www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2004_2009/organes/envi/envi_20080408_0900.htm

(*) Four local authority projects in England have received a total of £310m to improve waste management. Bradford, Suffolk, Leeds, and Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham Partnership will share in the private finance initiative (PFI) credits awarded by the government, which aims to divert one million tonnes of waste from landfill. All four councils are looking at combined heat and power, either using energy from waste or mechanical biological treatment.