MEPs veto paper end of waste proposals

The proposals would have seen the point at which paper is considered recycled brought forward from its current position at the paper mill to an earlier stage in the collection and sorting process.

During a vote in Strasbourg yesterday (December 10) the European Parliament strongly opposed the draft measures by 606 votes to 77, with 10 abstentions. Environmental and health concerns were cited by MEPs as the reason behind the move.

MEPs are concerned that existing environmental and health protection safeguards of the Waste Shipment Regulation would no longer apply under the legislation proposed by the Commission, as used paper would get end of waste status earlier in the recycling chain.

They claimed that this could lead to recovered paper being sold while containing 15.000 times more impurities than the relevant paper product standards require, they said.
In addition, they said that the proposed regulation could have a negative effect on the paper recycling rates in the EU, and risks undermining the viability of manufacturing quality paper from recycled materials within the European Union. The proposal could also contradict the principles of the waste hierarchy and the EU environmental goals, they said.

Warmly welcomed

The decision has been welcomed by the European paper mills, represented by the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI).

Welcoming the move, director general of CEPI, Teresa Presas said: We are glad to see the European Parliament remembered that the original purpose of defining when something is no longer to be considered a waste was to facilitate recycling not to obstruct it. If this proposal had become law it would also have burdened the global environment with needless additional energy use and emissions. It’s a good decision.

Recycling and product director at CEPI, Jori Ringman-Beck, added: We are delighted that the voice of reason has finally emerged. We now hope that the Commission’s environmental protection department will reflect on the content of this resolution and revise the criteria for determining when used paper is waste and when it’s not.

CEPI has previously raised concerns that the criteria, if implemented in its current state, would mean that recycled paper would be unusable without further processing and could lead to a reduction in quality and recycling rates (see letsrecycle.com story). To demonstrate its point of view, it staged a protest by temporarily dumping bales of waste paper outside the European Commissions headquarters in Brussels.

CEPI said it is not against defining criteria to determine when used paper ceases to be classified as waste, but maintains that the approach needs to be “fundamentally revisited and aligned with the newer more progressive criteria that the Commission has developed lately for other material streams.