It had been widely anticipated that the European Council would make a decision on the Criteria – the lack of which has caused great concerns for many landfill operators – at a council meeting in late October. But they were not discussed at this meeting, meaning the vote will not happen until the next meeting on December 10 – the final chance to make a decision.
Disputes
The delays have been caused by disputes over whether criteria relating to leaching rates could be relaxed if a landfill was shown to be able to absorb pollutants safely. Although this option was opposed by the UK in July, the current proposal still carries this clause.
The UK government has been heavily criticised for allowing the Landfill Directive to come into force before the terms of the criteria had been finalised. The WAC are important because they detail what materials will be allowed to go to the different classes of landfill which were introduced by the Directive – hazardous, non-hazardous and inert.
In a report on hazardous waste in July 2002, a House of Commons committee had said it was “profoundly concerned” that the WAC had not yet been agreed. A government response to this report issued yesterday admitted that the delay had caused uncertainty among waste management businesses and probably prevented investment in new treatment facilities (see letsrecycle.com story).
Failed
The European Technical Adaptation Committee failed to agree on the terms of the proposed WAC on July 23. The decision was then referred to the European Commission, which put forward a proposal on September 20 2002. The Council was given three months from this date to consider this and make a decision.
The WAC are currently expected to come into place in July 2005 – but operators are keen to know what to expect as soon as possible.
In order to adopt the proposal, the ministers need a qualified majority. There must be a unanimous vote in order to amend of reject the criteria – otherwise amendments can be proposed and the plans put forward for more debate.
A spokeswoman for the Commission confirmed that working groups under the Danish Presidency leadership were planning to discuss the proposals in mid-November and early December.
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