Priority Environmental Investment Programme National Workshop Serbia Overview Of EU Waste Policy

1. Priority Environmental Investment Programme National Workshop Serbia Overview Of EU Waste Policy Belgrade, 8th May 2008 Ruslan Zhechkov, REC ruslan@rec.org This project is financed by the European Commission.

2. Contents • Thematic Strategy on the Prevention and Recycling of Waste (2005) • Waste Framework Directive 2006/12/EC • Waste Landfill Directive 1999/31/EC • Packaging Directive 1994/62/EC • Waste Incineration Directive 2000/76/EC

3. Thematic Strategy on the Prevention and Recycling of Waste (2005) • Waste is a huge industry: 1.5 million jobs only in recycling; • Substantial progress in EU waste policy during last 30 years; • Waste seen as a resource for industry: re-use, recycling and energy recovery regulated: packaging, ELVs, WEEE, BMW; • Still, waste volume is growing and remains a problem;

4. Situation in EU as of 2005 • Landfill (49%), incineration (18%), recycling and composting (33%). • Hierarchy of waste management measures: (environmental concept) • Prevention or reduction of waste production; • Recovery of waste – recycling, reuse, reclamation; • Waste to energy - incineration; • Landfill (worst option environmentally) • Horizontal legislation: Waste Framework Directive (55%), Hazardous Waste Directive (54%), Waste Shipment Regulation • Detailed regulation: Waste Landfill Directive (45%), Packaging Directive (21%), ELV Directive, WEEE, EU Incineration Directive (16%). • Prevention, recycling and recovery are increasing but the absolute amount of waste is increasing; • Long-term goal is the EU to become a recycling society;

5. Emphasis of Future EU Policy • Full implementation of existing legislation; • Simplification and modernisation of legislation: remove unnecessary admin burden • Introduction of life-cycle thinking into waste policy. Minimization of the environmental impact through the life cycle; • Promotion of waste prevention; • Better knowledge and information; • Development of common reference standards for recycling;

6. Waste Framework Directive • Measures to dispose of waste in a safe way (BAT without excessive costs); avoid dumping. • Waste management plans should be drafted. • Every waste generator should be covered by collection schemes. This should go hand in hand, even precede new landfill construction. • Proper permits for public or private waste collectors: types and quantities of waste, technical requirements, safety, treatment method; • Polluter pays principle: cost of disposal must be borne by the holder or the producer of the product. Will lead to charge increases in Serbia. • Annexes: Categories of waste (I); Disposal operation (IIA), Recovery operations (IIB);

7. Waste Landfill Directive Modern landfill in Tallinn

8. Waste Landfill Directive (1) • Main principles: • safe landfilling – contains relevant technical requirements. Link to IPPC Directive (96/61/EC); • encouragement of prevention, recycling and recovery: → investments in recycling systems and recovery installations; • polluter pays principle → increase of tariffs; • avoid dumping; • reduce quantity and hazardousness of waste for landfills; • higher technical standards → higher costs of landfilling; • reduction of landfilling of biodegradable waste; • definition of closing of a landfill; • Principle of proximity and self-sufficiency → adequate, integrated network of disposal plants

9. Waste Landfill Directive (2) • National strategies to be drafted for reduction of BMW going to landfills. • Strategies set benchmarks (5 years – 75% of 1995; 8 years – 50% of 1995; 15 y – 35% of 1995) • Wastes not accepted to landfills – liquid, explosive, corrosive, hospital, whole tyres. • Classes of landfill – hazardous (for haz waste); non-hazardous (for municipal waste), for inert waste; • Detailed permits for landfill operators. Prerequisites (quantity of waste, capacity, description of site, methods for pollution prevention and abatement, proposed operation monitoring and control plan, plan for closure and after-care procedures;

10. Waste Landfill Directive (3) • Cost of landfilling – all costs of setting up, operation and closure to be reflected in the landfill charge – polluter pays principle. • Waste acceptance procedures (appropriate documentation by the operator) • Closure and after-care – when conditions in permit are met, authorized by Competent Authorities (CA). After closure operator is responsible for after-care for a certain period. • Upgrade of existing landfills (conditioning plan to CAs)

11. Packaging Directive (94/62/EC) • Aims at prevention of packaging waste • Encouragement of reuse systems of packaging • Directive sets benchmarks for recovery and recycling; • Encouragement of return, collection and recovery systems; • In NMS it has been of utmost importance in reaching reduction targets for landfilling BMW.

12. Other legislation • Directive 91/689/EC on hazardous waste • Decision 2000/532/EC on list of wastes • Regulation (EC) 1013/2006 on shipment of wastes • Directive 2000/53/EC on End-of-life Vehicles (ELV) • Directive 2000/76/EC on Incineration of Waste

13. Thank you. For more information: Ruslan Zhechkov rzhechkov@rec.org Tel.: +36-26-504-060