To protect human health and the environment and promote safe secondary materials in a circular economy, the European Parliament voted on Tuesday 3 May to eliminate persistent organic pollutants (POPs) - highly toxic chemical substances - from waste.
Following their rapporteur, Martin Hojsík (Renew Europe, Slovakia), by a large majority (506 votes in favour, 68 against, 49 abstentions), MEPs endorsed the position of the European Parliament Environment Committee on the draft revision of Annexes IV and V of Regulation 2019/102 on POPs (see EUROPE 12924/15).
The referral to the parliamentary committee was also approved, paving the way for negotiations with the EU Council (see EUROPE 12914/23).
“These are the worst pollutants. They are found in water and the food chain. This revision will have an impact on everyday life and beyond the borders of the EU, as we transfer these POPs as waste to other countries who are desperate for the EU to impose limits. It’s about saying ‘no’ to a toxic economy and to these toxic materials. This waste is also a resource for the future. We do not want the circular economy to contain dangerous chemicals”, Hojsik stressed before the vote.
Assured of an agreement between the major political groups, he was confident that the majority would choose to “defend the public interest”.
In favour of much stricter concentration limits for certain POPs than those proposed by the Commission in October 2021 (see EUROPE 12822/10), the Parliament is calling for:
- 200 mg//kg for HPCDD (heptachlorodibenzo-paradioxin) with a revision clause to lower the limit to 100 mg in 5 years; - significantly lower limits for dioxins and furans; - thresholds for PFAS “to reflect the commitments of the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability and to reduce PFAS contamination that unfortunately affects many citizens”, the rapporteur stressed; - limits of 420 milligrams/kg for short-chain chlorinated paraffins.
The European Parliament adds perfluorohexanesulfonic acid, a synthetic chemical compound, to the annexes of the regulation in anticipation of its listing under the Stockholm International Convention in early June.
On behalf of the European Commission, Věra Jourová, noted the Parliament’s willingness “to go further and faster” than the Commission has proposed for limit values and the Parliament’s request to assimilate POPs to hazardous substances in the forthcoming revision of EU waste legislation.
Stressing that inter-institutional negotiations will start in less than a fortnight on one of the first proposals of the EU’s 2nd circular economy action plan, she said she hoped for a political agreement before the end of June, assuring constructive support from the Commission in the negotiations. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)