Thematic Strategy focus shifting to composting and plastics

The Strategy is now expected to be rolled out by December 2005.

” Implementing the WEEE Directive will cost… half a billion euros in Germany… Could we ask whether we could do more for the environment with that half a billion.“
– Dr Klaus Kogler, European Commission
Departments within the European Commission are now examining a final version of the strategy and there is some speculatin that it will be launched by Mrs Beckett. She could launch it in her role as president of the European Council of Ministers before the UK relinquishes the Presidency of Europe at the end of December or it may be published by Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas.

The strategy had been due for publication in April this year, but was delayed because of the complex issues involved, not least the fact that it will be published alongside a revised draft version of the Waste Framework Directive (see letsrecycle.com story), the bedrock of European waste management legislation.

Exactly what will be in the Thematic Strategy – currently in the form of a “Commission Communication” – is being kept under wraps. However, it will include a chapter on waste prevention, which is seen as critical by the Commission despite acknowledging it can be hard to achieve. The Strategy will also swing away from the idea that waste legislation should primarily tackle the topic on the assumption that resources will be in shortly supply in the future.

Targets
Importantly, the Strategy is expected to focus especially on the concept of material targets. While paper and metals are seen as areas that are successfully recycled because of market demand, the Commission is understood to consider that more difficult materials are plastics and biodegradable wastes. It is believed to be keen to see longer term strategies put in place for biodegradable waste to be recovered and composted and for plastics to be collected in a way that ensures a clean material is available.

Interference in existing Directives is unlikely, although suggestions will be made that could influence future targets.

Some of the thinking behind the concept of a Thematic Strategy was presented at an international conference in Budapest last Friday on waste management legislation held by FEAD, the European federation which represents the waste management industry.

Officials
The presentation was made by Dr Klaus Kogler, deputy head of the Commission’s unit for sustainable production and consumption, who explained some of the thinking within the strategy.

He suggested a move away from specific product focused legislation: “The Thematic Strategy is a new approach to policy making. We have accepted that we have to step back, not one, but two steps to see the picture on a larger scale. We are aiming to enhance and protect the wellbeing of life, humans, animals and plants. This will be through identify in negative impacts and acting upon pressures and drivers for our use of resources. We have to understand the entire causal chain.”

Dr Kogler noted: “We are coming to the limits of what can be done in terms of administrative effort. We have one person looking after the Landfill Directive full time which is roughly 50% of European waste. We have three full time officials looking at less than of 1% of waste in WEEE. This shows how difficult it is for us to carry on the old European route of yet more waste specific legislation.”

And, he remarked: “Implementing the WEEE Directive will cost, according to the German press, half a billion euros in Germany. Without making any judgements on the precise figure, could we ask whether we could do more for the environment with that half a billion. We need to be mentally free in our approach.”