Brussels, 27/05/2003 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday, the European Commission adopted a Communication at the Council and Parliament on Waste Prevention and Recycling in the Union, which provides a number of possible options for dealing with the issue. The Commission wants to have as many comments and contributions on the matter before 30 November in order to take the most effective path to follow. On the basis of comments received, the Commission will determine its final objectives for waste prevention and recycling and decide what measures to propose for final adoption by the Council and the European Parliament.
In a communiqué, Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström said: "When we throw a product away, it represents much more than just a piece of waste. It also embodies all the resources used to produce it. If you add them all in, the real weight of a toothbrush becomes 1.5 kg, and that of a mobile phone 75 kg! To save resources and avoid pollution, the Commission is determined to put new focus on waste prevention and recycling. The communication examines the means of setting up, via a combination of regulatory, consensus-based and economic instruments for encouraging better waste management as well as analysing the means for reducing the gap between the levels of recycling in the Community.
Fixing quantitative targets for waste prevention: the Commission could encourage the involvement of industry sectors and individual companies in the development of such plans, which would include concrete measures for waste prevention, guaranteeing the widest possible use by European industry of low-waster production techniques and diffusion of "best practices" Union-wide.
Use market forces to recycle more: EU could set recycling targets for materials according to more coherent approach. EU law requires the recycling of materials from certain wastes (e.g. packaging, cars, electronics), but does not require the recycling of these same materials when they are used in other products. For example, packaging cardboard has to be recycled, but office paper or newsprint does not. promote cost harmonisation of recycling options using various instruments (such as the co-ordination of national taxes for waste disposal, bringing in the "pay as you throw" system across the board, with charges based on the volume or weight of rubbish disposed of in order to encourage citizens to sort their waste, or applying individual or collective responsibility to producers to recycle waste from their products), encourage the adoption of standards for recycling operations, to guarantee the use of the best technology by professionals in the sector.
By publishing this communication, the Commission is responding to a dual requirement: to deepen its strategy for waste management within the Union, and to prepare a thematic strategy for the prevention and recycling of waste, which is included in the sixth action programme for the environment.
The communication can be consulted on Internet at the following address: http: //europa.eu.int/comm/environment/waste/strategy.htm
Comments can be e-mailed to: env-waste-strategy@cec.eu.int, posted to the European Commission, DG Environment, Unit A2, B-1049 Brussels, or faxed to +32 22 96 39 80.