Brussels, 21/12/2005 (Agence Europe) - On 21 December, the European Commission presented two new strategies as part of its environmental policy for the next few years, one on the sustainable use of natural resources and the other on the prevention and recycling of waste. These two strategies are "closely linked", Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas told the press, stressing that a new concept would be taken into account in the drafting of these policies: that of "life cycle". "It is a matter of considering all the life stages of a product: from the cradle to the grave, from extraction to the moment when the product becomes waste (...), and to see the impact it has on the environment", he explained.
1) European strategy on the sustainable use of natural resources. Noting that world economic growth goes hand-in-hand with an increased use of natural resources (land, forest, wild flora and fauna, soil, air, water, fossil fuels and raw materials), and that many methods for their use have an impact on the environment, the Commission has decided to set itself the principal objective of decoupling economic growth from the environmental impact which results from the use of these resources. Three factors will help towards this goal: -more added value: more value will be created by using fewer resources (meaning that the productivity of resources will be increased); -less impact: reducing the global impact of the use of natural resources on the environment (boosting eco-efficiency); -better substitution solutions: replacing the resources used with alternative solutions which pollute less.
The strategy proposes, with a time horizon of 25 years, several specific measures: -a data centre managed by the Commission, and bringing together all available knowledge on natural resources (on this subject, Commissioner Dimas added: " at the moment, we lack vital data, particularly from the new Member States"); -an international working group set up in cooperation with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); -the drafting of national programmes by the Member States; -taking account, when creating Commission action plans, of the impact of the use of resources on the environment (particularly within the framework of its strategy for growth and employment); -the drafting of indicators to assess progress made, between now and 2008.
2) strategy for the prevention and recycling of waste. Commissioner Dimas would like to make Europe into a "recycling-based society". Waste policy is closely linked to the use of resources, the Commissioner pointed out, going on to stress that waste "contains material which, when correctly recycled, could become resources". The objective of this new strategy is, therefore, apart from the limiting waste, to use this waste effectively, as sources of energy, for instance. The strategy will be based on knowledge drawn from the thematic strategy on resources, presented above. European environmental legislation is reasonably important and has already led to progress in methods of disposing of waste, and recycling. Strict standards also exist for landfill and incinerators. Nonetheless, waste production continues to increase in line with economic growth (today, the EU produces 1.3 billion tonnes of waste per annum), whereas landfill possibilities remain constant. The idea is, therefore, Mr Dimas explains, "to adopt a more modern approach and to act in favour of the development and improvement of recycling activities", on the basis of new knowledge. To start with, the Commission plans to review the 1975 framework directive on waste, in order to make it more consistent with today's reality, and plans to merge certain legislative texts, such as the three directives on titanium dioxide.
Other measures are planned within the context of the revision of the framework directive: -to base the policy for waste on seeking more sustainable ways of using resources; -drafting binding national waste prevention programmes; -modernising the recycling market, including standards defining the conditions under which certain recycled waste products will no longer be considered waste; -simplifying the legislation by clarifying definitions, harmonising provisions and including in it the directives on dangerous waste (91/689/EEC) and the one on waste oil (75/439/EEC).
These two strategies are part of a package of seven strategies drafted by the Commission as part of the sixth Community action programme for the environment: the five other strategies concern atmospheric pollution (which presented on 21 September 2005), the marine environment (presented on 20 October 2005), soil, pesticides and the urban environment (to be presented at a later date).