Plan to dilute new proposals for EU landfill legislation

Date: 11/12/1997

By Simon Coss

EU GOVERNMENTS are planning to water down new proposals put forward by Environment Commissioner Ritt Bjerregaard to reduce the amount of domestic rubbish disposed of in 'landfill' sites.

In the spring, Bjerregaard called on member states to reduce their reliance on landfill waste disposal to one-quarter of 1995 levels by the year 2010.

National environmental experts argue, however, that the most they can realistically hope to achieve is to reduce landfill by just under two-thirds (65&percent;) by 2020.

Under the revised plan, countries such as the UK and Ireland which currently use landfill for more than 80&percent; of their rubbish disposal would be granted a further four years to make the necessary cuts.

Environment ministers will discuss the latest proposals when they meet in Brussels next Tuesday (16 December), although they cannot take a formal decision until the European Parliament has completed its examination of the plan. MEPs are not expected to vote on the issue until next February.

EU governments are anxious to avoid upsetting the Parliament, which has already sunk one landfill proposal: a plan put forward by the Commission in 1991. On that occasion, MEPs said that changes made by member states to the Commission's plans would have exempted half of the Union's territory from the proposed landfill rules.

Once the Parliament has given its initial verdict on the current scheme, the Council of Ministers can agree its position by qualified majority vote. But if the Parliament then rejects this, as happened with the previous draft directive, the proposal can only become law if it is unanimously agreed by member states.

Even the modest cuts now being discussed within the Council have sparked controversy among national delegations.

Both London and Dublin feel that the proposed rules are still too stringent. One of the reasons for the long delay before Bjerregaard unveiled her latest plans was opposition from Trade Commissioner Sir Leon Brittan, who was accused by some of defending national interests.

In addition, Spain and Greece are worried about the cost of complying with the suggested regulations.

Landfill, which is responsible for almost one-third of all EU emissions of the greenhouse gas methane, is generally considered to be one of the least environmentally-friendly methods of waste disposal.