Brussels (Brussels Morning) The European Commission has proposed new EU rules on waste shipment. The EC says the move is aimed at making it more difficult for member states to ship waste to poorer countries, Reuters reports.
The proposed rules, part of the EC’s push to cut pollution and increase recycling of metals, plastic and textiles, still need to be approved by the European Parliament and EU member states.
Virginijus Sinkevičius, European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, pointed out that “the goal is to make the EU take a greater responsibility for the waste it produces.”
The fact that this is not the case today, means that it needs to change, he said. “Just think about all that plastic litter that comes from bad waste management.”
Full control of waste management
The bloc exported approximately 33 million tonnes of waste in 2020, with about half of that going to poorer countries that are not Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) members and which therefore have more relaxed waste management regulation compared to the EU.
According to the Commission proposal, such countries would have to seek EC approval to import waste from EU member states, and this would be regulated based on their ability to process the imported waste in line with EC’s environmental rules.
The EC also proposes to control waste export to OECD member countries, noting that it should be granted the authority to suspend waste export deals if it deems the evidence shows that the importing OECD countries lack the capacity to manage the waste in a sustainable manner.
In addition, the EC seeks the authority to investigate illegal shipments of waste, stressing that the push is aimed at making EU member states recycle and process more waste at home.
The proposal also includes changes to rules for shipping waste within the EU. The Commission notes that this is aimed at making sure that steel, iron, paper and plastic waste can be transported to recycling facilities in the bloc.