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Recycling targets key to EU waste law deal - MEP Posted: 16 Feb 2008 06:03 PM CST An early agreement on proposals to revise EU waste management rules will only be possible if governments agree to binding targets for waste prevention and recycling, according to the MEP leading the European parliament's response to the plans. Speaking ahead of a second reading of the plans in the parliament, British centre-right rapporteur Caroline Jackson warned that negotiations on the revision would extend into conciliation talks in the autumn if governments refuse to accept targets. "The parliament and council will probably go for a second-reading agreement, but if governments are dead-set against the targets then the proposals will go to conciliation", she told a waste policy conference in Paris. Ms Jackson said her insistence on targets was supported by the parliament's other main political groups. Her position is set out in 31 second-reading amendments to a ministerial agreement finalised in November after a political agreement last June. The amendments will be discussed by the parliament's environment committee at the end of February ahead of a vote in mid-April. The rapporteur says including targets in the revised law is the only way that MEPs will agree to ministers' desire to classify efficient waste-to-energy incineration as a recovery operation under the EU waste hierarchy. "Such targets are an insurance policy against energy from waste becoming the dominant means of waste management", she said. The parliament proposed prevention and recycling targets in its first reading but they were removed by the council of ministers in its common position. In her latest amendments, Ms. Jackson says EU countries must take "all necessary measures" to stabilise waste production at 2009 levels by 2012. By 2020 governments would have to ensure that half of household waste and 70 per cent of construction and demolition waste was "prepared for re-use and recycling". Countries with recycling rates of less than five per cent in either category between 2000 and 2005 would be given an extra five years to meet the recycling targets. Ms Jackson told that her amendments on the targets were "a bit rough and ready" but would be refined in negotiations. "This is something of an ultimatum, because the parliament has a very strong hand. If governments want a revised waste directive – and I think they do – they will have to accept targets in some shape or form". Beyond the issue of targets, Ms Jackson said it was "terribly important" to agree on the definition of waste. Her amendments include more detailed definitions of waste recovery operations and industrial by-products compared with the council's common position. Other amendments include a demand for the European commission to proposed end-of-waste criteria within five years, covering at least compost, aggregates, paper, glass, metal, used tyres and waste textiles. She also argues that governments should have to consult citizens and other stakeholders before deviating from a proposed five-stage EU waste hierarchy. The hierarchy should apply as a "general rule" rather than a "guiding principle" as preferred by the council. The rapporteur also proposes strengthened provisions on hazardous waste, and an obligation for EU governments to extend producer responsibility for waste treatment to all manufacturers of products, using "legislative or non-legislative measures". *Meanwhile in a report released this week Friends of the Earth and the EEB have calculated that introducing a 50 per cent EU recycling target for municipal waste could save 89m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents annually. "Recycling our waste helps to tackle climate change, and targets are the best way to make sure recycling really happens across Europe," said FoE campaigner Michael Warhurst. [b]Follow-up[/b]: Conference organised by the [url=http://www.era.int/web/en/html/index.htm]Academy of European law[/url]. See also [url=http://www.era.int/web/en/html/nodes_main/4_2127_474/Archives/conferences_2008/5_1796_3186.htm]conference programme[/url] and [url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE400.588]Jackson amendments[/url]. See also [url=http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/eu_needs_waste_prevention_14022008.html]FoE release[/url] and [url=http://www.eeb.org/publication/documents/RecyclingClimateChangePotentials.pdf]report[/url].

UK: Defra confirms packaging recovery targets for 2008 to 2010 Posted: 16 Feb 2008 05:55 PM CST Defra has published new packaging waste recovery targets for 2008 to 2010, raising the overall recovery target to 72% for this year. But, the government has slightly reduced the increases in the recycling targets for aluminium and glass packaging compared to those it proposed last autumn in its public consultation exercise- The aluminium recycling target for 2008 will be 35% - rather than the 38% rate proposed by Defra in September. It will then rise to 38% in 2009 and 40% in 2010. The glass recycling target of 78% for 2008 has been reduced by 0.5 percentage points compared to the 78.5% proposed by Defra in its consultation. Ministers have raised the overall recovery target from 69% in 2008 to 72% to balance out the reductions in aluminium and glass recycling requirements for the packaging industry....

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