Brussels, 31/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - EU legislation on dangerous waste needs improvement and action must be taken to deal with its shortcomings, explained the participants at a hearing on the storage and management of dangerous waste, organised by the EPP party at the European Parliament in Brussels on Wednesday 30 March.
Representatives of industry, the EU institutions and academia were invited to discuss the issues surrounding the storage and management of dangerous waste under the general EU waste management rules in order to identify what direction the EU should take when it comes to dangerous waste.
It emerged from the debate that three approaches are required. First and foremost, the list of hazardous waste needs to be updated. Then member states need to examine quantities and types of dangerous waste and how and where it is stored. Finally, immediate EU-scale action is vital.
Boguslaw Sonik (EPP, Poland), deputy chair of the EP's environment committee who organised the hearing, explained that research had shown that the total quantity of waste in the EU is diminishing but the amount of dangerous waste was increasing, along therefore with the risk to public health and the environment. He said the EU should focus on tighter controls, encouraging the conversion of dangerous waste into less hazardous waste and introducing programmes to turn waste into resources.
He noted that current EU legislation on hazardous waste is over-complex and ambiguous and should be reviewed by the European Commission. He said the European Parliament would be a strong ally to force the member states to improve matters. Dealing with this situation would, he said, help prevent any further catastrophes like the poisonous red sludge that had polluted the Danube from a site in Hungary last October. (A.N./transl.fl)