Health, Safety & the Environment
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| Managing Processes: Waste Management |
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| The European Union has enacted a recast of the waste framework directive in November 2008. The overall objective is to reduce the environmental impact of waste generation and management. Cefic will continue to monitor its implementation. |
This directive (2008/98/EC) can be seen as a sustainable way of taking into consideration the whole spectrum of the waste management and side effects. Some examples illustrate that comprehensive approach such as using the best environmental and economic option for each waste stream, or defining by-products in that by-products are products that do not come under waste law. Some further works need however to be done on the definitions of recovery and disposal.
Such legislation is a path in the good direction. Hazardous waste generation increased indeed by 13% between 1998 and 2002 to 58.4 million tonnes, i.e. 129 kg per capita. Management of this waste costs €10 billion to € 25 billion a year.
The sustainability approach is a key driver of this directive since it
insists on the recycling of waste. In addition, waste is seen as a basis for new
resources and energy. It sets out rules on recycling and requires Member States
to draw up binding national programs for waste prevention. By 2020, 50 % of
waste materials such as paper, metal and glass from households or similar waste
streams and 70 % of non-hazardous construction and demolition waste should be
re-used and recycled. Incineration of household waste will be seen as a recovery
operation rather than disposal, provided it meets a certain energy efficiency
standard.
| Waste hierarchy |
The directive has set a five-stage waste hierarchy. It is designed to prevent
and reduce waste production. The hierarchy lays down an order of preference for
waste operations:
1) prevention,
2) re-use,
3) recycling,
4) other recovery operations,
5) safe and environmentally sound disposal.
Member states are to treat it "as a priority order", in waste prevention and management legislation rather than as a "guiding principle". Departing from the hierarchy may be possible where it is justified by "life cycle" thinking on the overall impacts of the generation and management of such waste.
The directive includes furthermore a definition on by-products and of the
"end-of-waste" status and introduces an extended producer liability.
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