Brussels, 24/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - A new step has just been taken in the efforts to reduce the quantity of dangerous waste products and products in landfill in the EU, to benefit the environment and health. In Strasbourg on Wednesday, the European Parliament confirmed the first-reading EP/Council agreement on the revision of the directive which has since 2004 limited the use of certain dangerous substances in electronic and electrical equipment - substances which prevent these products from being recycled. By a vast majority (640 votes in favour, 3 against, 12 abstentions), the MEPs approved the text of the agreement, which will make it easier for the member states to implement the directive, due to clearer procedures and criteria, and will guarantee that this stand-alone legislation fully complements the new framework directive on waste and the REACH regulation on the registration and authorisation of chemical substances.
By virtue of the agreement, the scope of application of the directive has been extended to all electrical and electronic equipment, including medical devices and monitoring and control devices, and toys with an electronic function. This scope of application will be opened.
Annex III, which contains the list of restricted-use substances (to which the Parliament wanted to add 33 substances), will be removed. Phthalates, brominated flame retardants and certain nanomaterials which the Commission proposed as priority substances to be removed, will be examined. The Commission will report back in three years, in 2014, to propose further exclusions. The general revision of the text will take place in no later than 10 years' time. By request of the Parliament, the availability of alternative solutions which are less dangerous will be considered as a minor criterion to obtain an exception to the ban of dangerous substances. Stressing the fact that the agreement was reached by dint of “some tough negotiations with the Council”, Gill Evans (Greens/EFA, UK), the rapporteur, had hoped to go further. “We missed a perfect opportunity to introduce more restrictions, because large sections of industry have already decided to stop using halogen flame retardants and PVC”, she said after the vote. Nonetheless, she considers that the compromise is a “great step forward” for reducing the quantity of waste produced, because “the sector of household goods and information technology equipment is the market which produces the most waste in the whole EU, with an estimated 12.3 million tonnes of waste in 2020”. She welcomes the fact that a “clear signal” has been sent out to industry.
The revision of this directive was proposed in December 2008. On Wednesday, the Parliament enshrined the agreement as negotiated in trialogue on 8 November. The Council must in turn confirm the agreement to allow the revised directive to be formally adopted. (A.N./transl.fl)