Industry demands Commission rethink on Biowaste Directive

The Directive, which was originally planned for the end of 2004, was to establish rules on the safe use, recovery, recycling and disposal of biodegradable waste. The Commission decided to merge the Directive into a Thematic Strategy on Soils last June (see letsrecycle.com story).

Trade organisations including European environmental services association FEAD, the European Compost Network and the International Solid Waste Association have now warned that the Commission has now axed most of the Directive's requirements.

”It is crucial that appropriate standards are set and enforced so waste managers have the certainty to invest in infrastructure. “
– Dirk Hazell, Environmental Services Association
Instead, a weaker system of standards – with no legislation on collection and treatment – will be the only surviving measures, the group believes, incorporated within EU Compost Product Standards.

The group said: “We are deeply concerned about the apparent intention not to bring forward an independent legislative proposal for a directive on the biological treatment of biowaste.

Critical
“The Commission's idea of focusing only on Compost Product Standards for this waste stream is insufficient. Standards without complementary strategic legislation on biowaste would not generate critical mass needed to drive change or give the legal certainty to address the current financial risks for both the private and public sectors,” the group said.

The letter, to European Commissioner Stavros Dimas, came at a “critical stage” of decision-making within Europe concerning Thematic Strategies expected to result in new European Directives on soils and waste management.

One key member of the coalition behind the letter to Commissioner Dimas, Nick McCallister of the Community Composting Network, said: “Lots of local authorities are making decisions on how to meet the Landfill Directive right now. We need a Biowaste Directive to promote composting and anaerobic digestion as the main way to this.”

Prior to last year's derailing of the Biowaste Directive, discussions concerning it had gone on for five years. Some experts believe that without explicit collection and treatment requirements, investment in new waste management technologies including MBT and anaerobic digestion could be affected.

The UK waste industry is backing the group's demand for a separate Biowaste Directive, with Environmental Services Association chief executive Dirk Hazell saying: “Returning appropriately treated biowaste to land can result in huge agricultural and ecological benefits. It is crucial that appropriate standards are set and enforced so waste managers have the certainty to invest in infrastructure.”