EU revising definition of

Archiv – Several EU states fear they will be inundated with waste from Germany if waste-to-energy incineration plants are re-classified as recovery operations, as proposed by the European Commission.EU | Several EU states fear they will be inundated with waste from Germany if waste-to-energy incineration plants are re-classified as recovery operations, as proposed by the European Commission.
EU governments are on course to agree a first-reading position this month on a revision of the bloc’s legislative framework for waste treatment. Key outstanding points centre on the legal distinction between waste recovery and disposal methods. As holder of the EU presidency, the German government has proposed a compromise allowing governments to block imports of mixed municipal waste if there is a chance that treatment of domestic waste will be disrupted as a result.
To resolve the definition of recovery itself, the European Parliament is proposing a solution based on the substitution of resources. Some countries are worried that this is too broad and would lead to some obvious disposal operations – such as landfilling waste in disused salt mines – being viewed as recovery.
Several important issues have been resolved. Member states have agreed to a clear five-stage waste hierarchy, while their proposal for using “life-cycle thinking to deviate from it” is described as “much more pragmatic” than that of the parliament, sources say. The European Parliament also wants an explicit mention in the law of criteria determining when industrial by-products should be exempt from EU waste rules. Germany is proposing new clauses based on a guidance document issued by the European Commission earlier this year.