EU proposes to tighten waste shipment laws

Under the planned changes to Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006 on shipments of waste, the European Commission hopes to target port hopping by illegal exporters of waste who target Member States with the most lenient controls on waste exports.

The initiative proposes risk-based inspections to be carried out regularly by Member States, with greater co-operation between authorities and better training of inspectors. It will also require authorities to carry out more regular on-the-spot inspections of waste shipments in order to determine if waste is destined for treatment in an environmentally sound manner.

Plans are also included to give greater focus on collection points and storage facilities to allow possible breaches of waste shipment law to be caught at an early stage.

Environment Commission Janez Potonik, said: Its time for stricter controls in all Member States thats the best way of stopping dishonest exporters from taking advantage of the system. Todays proposal will help to reduce mismanagement of waste, make sure hazardous waste is dealt with properly and see that valuable resources are reused.

IMPEL

Cross border cooperation was among the topics highlighted at the recent meeting of European environmental agencies, who met under the banner of the EU network Implementation and Enforcement of Environment Law (IMPEL) in Utrecht, Holland last month (see letsrecycle.com story).

A spokesperson for the group said: “As IMPEL-TFS we think this proposal will improve the enforcement of waste shipment regulations. We have already finalised a manual: Doin the Right Things-TFS, which is available to download through the IMPEL website. This manual focuses on the whole process of inspection planning, also an important part of the proposal of the Commission, as well as cooperation between authorities both within one country as well as within other countries.”

The proposals were drawn up following the results of a public consultation which saw 90% of respondents expressing wide spread support in favour of legislative requirements in favour of waste shipment inspections. The plans are also intended to address concerns raised by businesses over the differences of implementation and interpretation of the existing waste shipment laws across Member States.

They follow the unveiling of similar plans by the UK government to give greater powers to port officials to stop and detain suspected illegal waste shipments at the portside. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs published a consultation into amendments to the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations (2007) in March (see letsrecycle.com story), responses from which are currently being analysed.