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Recycling priorities threatened with incineration
Ministers advocate recycling, but avoid tackling crucial incineration issue
Brussels, Tuesday June 27 - Environmental NGOs have criticised EU
Environment Ministers for failing to address the controversial Commission
proposal to reclassify municipal waste incinerators as 'recovery facilities'
when they discussed EU Waste Strategy today. The redefinition risks boosting
incineration at the expense of reduction and recycling of waste.
"By making burning of waste as acceptable as re-use or recycling, the
reclassification of incinerators would be a major step back in EU waste
policy and would undermine other positive elements adopted in the EU Waste
Strategy today," said Michael Warhurst, Waste Campaigner at Friends of the
Earth Europe.
The Council Conclusions on the EU Waste Strategy (1), adopted today, include
a number of welcome steps: support for a clear five-step hierarchy of waste
management, giving priority to recycling over incineration in principle,
emphasis on the importance of recycling law and targets, support for
composting of biowaste, and establishment of indicators on waste prevention.
But the Commission proposal to reclassify incinerators risks undermining all
these good intentions.
Today's Council Conclusions do not touch the 'hot' incineration issue and do
not recognise the fact that various countries, including Poland, the Czech
Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, have clearly expressed their opposition to
the reclassification (2), restated at the meeting today.
"Incinerators are a disposal method, they should not be re-branded as
recovery. They waste resources that could otherwise be saved through
recycling, they discourage waste prevention, and a typical incinerator
converting waste to electricity produces around 33% more fossil-fuel derived
carbon dioxide than a gas fired power station," Mr Warhurst added. (3)
Martin Konecny of CEE Bankwatch Network said, "In central and eastern
Europe, the reclassification of incinerators could have particularly adverse
effects. It could divert the use of millions of euros from the EU structural
and cohesion funds from sorting and recycling schemes into building new
incinerators. EU ministers must maintain the classification of incinerators
as disposal. A short-term 'fix' by creating new restrictions for movements
of waste will not be an effective solution."
The status of incinerators will be definitively resolved in the upcoming
negotiations on the Waste Framework Directive.
Stefan Scheuer, European Environmental Bureau Policy Unit Director said,
"It is important that ministers now turn their support for a clear cut EU
waste management hierarchy in today's Council Conclusions into concrete
action. This means that in the coming negotiations for a future EU waste law
they must reject the Commission's move to disguise municipal incinerators as
'recovery installations'."
Contacts:
Rosemary Hall, Communications Officer at Friends of the Earth Europe: +32
485 930515, rosemary.hall@foeeurope.org
Michael Warhurst, Senior Waste Campaigner, Friends of the Earth Europe: Tel:
+44 10 7566 1685, michael@foe.co.uk
Martin Konecny, EU Coordinator, CEE Bankwatch Network: Tel: +32 2 542 01 85,
Mobile: +32 484 601283, martin.konecny@foeeurope.org
Melissa Shinn, Senior Policy Officer for Waste, Product Policy & Natural
Resources at EEB: +32 2 289 1308, melissa.shinn@eeb.org
Notes:
(1) Council conclusions on the Thematic Strategy on the prevention and
recycling of waste, seen by the NGOs in advance and adopted today
(2) A English version of the statement by the four environment ministers
of Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic expressing their
reservations on the Commission's proposal to reclassify municipal waste
incinerators as recovery facilities can be found at
http://www.eeb.org/activities/waste/incineration/Visegrad-4-declaration-4-and-5-May2006.pdf
(3) For details see the report 'A changing climate from energy from
waste' and the briefing 'Dirty Truths: Incineration and Climate Change',
linked from:
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/green_incineration_claims_02052006.html
Also see the following position papers:
Friends of the Earth Europe: "Policymakers briefing - Creating a new waste
policy: Promoting sustainability through innovation and efficient use of
resources", May 2006:
http://www.foeeurope.org/publications/2006/Waste_Briefing_May2006.pdf
European Environment Bureau: "EEB recommendations on the Commission
Communication on the Thematic Strategy on Waste Prevention and
Recycling and the associated Commission proposal to amend the Waste
Framework Directive (COM (2005)667)", June 2006:
http://www.eeb.org/activities/waste/EEB-Brief-Waste-Strategy-and-Directive-recommendations-050606-sum.pdf
